


The Curse and the Blessing, They're One and the Same

by NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl



Series: Tales From the Tower [14]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dating, Disabled Character, Eventual Smut, F/M, Light Angst, Relationship(s), Sign Language, Telekinesis, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-04-24 22:25:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 52,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4937506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxEtoile/pseuds/NyxEtoile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlivesAwl/pseuds/OlivesAwl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"There are certain things about me and my powers that are considered state secrets." Wanda sighed. "Would you be willing to get security clearance to date me?"</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Zev blinked a few times, looking very surprised. "I think it's terrible that they require that of you. But that isn't your fault."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>If she smiled wider her face would start to hurt. "I will talk to Maria Hill and see what is involved." And then, because she'd laid everything else out on the table, she added, "Sort of want to kiss you now."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>He made a sound, half sigh and half groan. "I'm a fan of living in the moment."</i>
</p><p>
  <i>She cupped his face in her hands and he tangled his in her hair. He took control of the kiss, tipping her head back and deepening it. Desire tightened her skin, formed a hot knot in her belly. She felt her powers start to respond to the emotion and jerked her hands away from him to direct it downwards.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>The stool nearest them rattled and bumped the island. "Sorry." She gestured at the stool, still wobbling. "I'm working on controling them when I'm. . . distracted. I won't hurt you," she assured him.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"I'm a guy who likes roller coasters."</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We're baaaaack.
> 
> Wanda gets her love story and we get to see what the gang is up to in Ithaca.
> 
> Will update Mondays and Thursdays.
> 
> Title is from an Indigo Girls song, "Fugitive." Olives and I had a lengthy Indigo Girls phase. We could tell you stories.
> 
>  
> 
> _I'm harboring a fugitive defector of a kind_  
>  _And she lives in my soul, drinks of my wine_  
>  _And I'd give my last breath to keep us alive_
> 
>  
> 
> _Are they coming for us with cameras or guns?_  
>  _We don't know which but we gotta run_  
>  _And you say this is not what I bargained for_

Wanda liked routine. Predictability. For years she had lived on the street with Pietro, running away from well meaning foster families and group homes. There had been days they didn't know where they'd sleep or what they'd eat. The only constant was each other. And while she would not trade her bond with her brother for all of Stark's millions, it was nice to have stability in her life.

Her alarm went off at eight in the morning. A proper alarm clock, with bells and ticking hands. The home she shared with Pietro was old and while it was wired for the all the technology that seemed to come with being an Avenger and friend of Tony Stark, Wanda prefered old fashioned things. Electronics sometimes reacted oddly to her powers and she avoided them when possible.

Pietro was already up. She was fairly certain he slept sometimes, because occasionally she got whiffs of dreams, but it had to be less than six hours a night. She could hear the TV going downstairs and smell cinnamon and apples from whatever he'd heated up for breakfast. Pietro, to her surprise and amusement, loved having a kitchen and hated cold food. Wanda certainly wasn’t going to complain about hot breakfasts instead of cereal.

Today was pancakes with cooked apples and cinnamon butter on top. He put it in front of her with a flourish when she sat down. "Juice or coffee?"

"Yes," she said with a smile and he darted away to fetch them.

The glasses sloshed a little when he put them down. "So what are you doing today?"

"I'm in the lab with Amanda today," she told him, cutting into her pancakes. "We're covering wound assessment and treatment." Which. . . maybe a big breakfast wasn't the best of ideas. She hesitated a moment, then shrugged, shoving a big bite into her mouth. She had a pretty sturdy stomach and chances were they wouldn't be dealing with any actual wounds today. "You've outdone yourself," she muttered around her food.

"Youtube videos," he told her. "Americans have some wacky accents."

She laughed, sipping her coffee. "What are you up to today?"

"Training with Barnes. Then running to town for the new video game release."

"You know you can have Darcy order that for you."

He shrugged and stole one of her apple slices. "I get there and back quicker."

Wanda shook her head. "Don't burn yourself out."

"Exercise is good for me," he replied. He was trying to fold the pancake so he could get the whole thing on one fork.

She sighed and tried not to look directly at him as she finished her breakfast. Well, she ate between a third and half of her breakfast and Pietro finished the rest. He glanced at his watch and stood, swigging down the last of his juice. "I'm late. I will see you for dinner?"

"Of course," she said, but he was already gone. Shaking her head, she took her coffee upstairs to sip as she got dressed and brushed her hair, then left the mug in the sink before heading out to the little electric cart that would take her to the labs.

Back in the Tower in New York, Amanda had had a somewhat crowded lab space, and infirmary, in a couple of thousand square feet. Here, the medical facilities were a sprawling complex of interconnected buildings. Stark really never did anything halfway, ever.

The golf cart parked itself at the end of a row of identical vehicles and Wanda climbed out, making her way into the building that held the infirmary and Amanda's personal lab as well as a couple used by her interns and grad students. Wanda rather liked all the med students that worked on the campus. She felt like she stood out less among a sea of mid to late twenty somethings.

Amanda smiled when she let herself into the infirmary. "You're early."

Wanda shrugged a little. "Pietro made me breakfast. Saved time."

"I had one of the hologenerators brought down, so we could work with 3D and not just images." She gestured at the large machine sitting beside one of the patient beds. She tapped some buttons and the image of a man appeared on the bed. The face looked familiar, yet she was sure she'd never seen it before. Whomever he was, he was _very_ attractive. "It's a morph," Amanda said. "The model having no face freaked people out, so I had one made that's a combination of all of the Avengers."

That explained it. There was Stark's nose and Bucky's eyes. Steve's jaw. "They combine rather well," she commented.

Amanda grinned. "Several of the nurses said the same thing. If I ever get into cloning I know what my first project will be."

Wanda chuckled, then bent over the form with Amanda as she explained the wound and how to begin triaging it. She was getting battlefield medic training, to help back up and help Amanda on missions. It was one of multiple training modules that the rest of them had developed for her and Pietro to help them refine their skills and have a functional role in the team. 

"There was a study done at one point about the feasibility of cloning Steve, from blood samples."

"I assume nothing came of it?" Wanda asked, cleaning the holographic wound with astringent and using butterfly bandages to hold it closed.

"Get the ends so they touch. It was suspended for ethical concerns. The notes also mentioned they wanted to put the last bit of blood they had towards trying to remake the serum, because opinions were mixed as to whether they actually wanted another Steve."

Wanda knew only the bare bones of Steve's story. Captain America hadn't exactly been a childhood bedtime story in Sokovia. Maybe she should add that to her reading list. "Why not? I thought he was considered a hero?"

"He is. He's also an excellent leader. He is, however, abysmally bad at following orders an/or rules from others if he doesn't agree with." 

"Part of why I like him." She was sure that without Steve's easy and immediate acceptance of her and Pietro's help the events of last fall would have been very very different.

Amanda set up several different types of wound simulation for her and left her to it, sitting nearby with some reports in case Wanda had questions. She found herself getting into a bit of a rhythm, working with one part of her brain while the rest wandered. 

After a while, she started picking up things among the web of minds in the building. No specific thoughts, just strong emotions or impressions. She tried to reel herself in, not wanting to pry, but one stuck out. "Someone down the hall is very frustrated."

Amanda lifted her head. "What was that?"

"Sorry, I was drifting a little. In the zone, Natasha calls it. I picked up some random emotions and such in the building. Someone down the hall is very frustrated and. . ." She paused her work to turn the echo of emotion over in her mind. "Irritated? Not quite the right word, but close."

She glanced at the door to the labs. "Can you tell who?"

"Not without prying. I could probably find the room," she offered. "I think there's a second person," she added.

"Okay," Amanda said. "I'm not a fan of fighting."

Wanda paused her simulation and stood. Together they walked out into the hallway. Wanda tilted her head, tuning in to the web again, then turned and lead Amanda down the hall, past three doorways. She paused outside the fourth, listened again, then nodded.

Amanda knocked lightly and opened the door, stepping in. "Everything okay in here?"

There were two men inside, one young and white, one old and Asian. The older one looked in the middle of a lecture, the younger one was holding a pad of paper in one hand and rubbing his forehead with the other. "I cannot operate this way!" the older man said. At least, that's what it sounded like, he had a very strong accent. "One of your students won't answer my questions and keeps trying to hand me a notepad."

Amanda took what sounded like a bracing breath. She didn't seem all that surprised. "Dr. Lee. He's not answering you because he can't hear you." She looked at the young man. "Where's Chuck?" Then she winced and said, "Sorry," before reaching out for the notepad he was now extending to her. 

She could hear him thinking the words as he was writing them, though they had no voice to them. People's words sometimes sounded like their speaking voice in Wanda's head. His didn't sound like anything at all. It was somehow . . . less intrusive. _Strep throat. They called me in._

After reading the pad Amanda took another one of those breaths. "Dr. Lee, Zev is deaf and mute. He usually has an interpreter but apparently he is sick today. If you need to communicate with him you will need to use the pad."

Dr. Lee found this completely unacceptable is a very offensive way. Wanda could almost see Amanda getting more and more pissed off.

Wanda weighed her options a moment. They had worked very hard to keep her telepathic powers a secret. Even the NSA, who supposedly was their government oversight, was unaware of it. As far as anyone outside the team knew, she was a telekinetic, nothing more. It had been unanimously agreed that they would want to lock her up in a cage if they knew the extent of her abilities. She wasn't supposed to use them unless absolutely necessary.

 Still, languages were extremely easy to pull out of people's heads. She'd done it a couple of times, once on a search and rescue mission in Nepal and once with a very sweet Puerto Rican shop keeper in New York. Surely they could find a reasonable explanation for her knowing sign language?

She skimmed along Zev's mind until she found what she needed. Then she waved to get his attention and signed, "Hi, I'm Wanda. Can I help?"

He blinked in surprise, and then his hands moved so fast she got every other word at most. She gestured for him to slow down, and he tried again. "My lip reading is terrible. I don't even know what he wants."

It took her a minute to get the old man's attention and ask him to explain to her what he needed from Zev. She was sure there were signs for some of the medical terminology he used, but digging them out would be far too invasive. There was a lot of fingerspelling but Zev just seemed relieved at having someone to communicate with.

Amanda had returned to her office by the time Dr. Lee was done and had stomped off. Zev made a sign she didn't recognize, but something told her it wasn't a nice word.

"I guess he's off to ruin someone else's day."

"In hindsight, I'm not sure how well he can read or write in English. Written Chinese is ideographic, writing a phonetic language can be hard. He didn't need to be a jerk about it, though."

"I'm glad I could help," she told him, smiling.

"Thank you. That was very fortuitous. I don't encounter a lot of random people who can sign." 

"I like languages." It wasn't a lie. She and Natasha had spent many long hours trying to ferret out all the dialect differences between Russian and Sokovian. "I pick them up quickly." Also true.

That made him smile. He had a very expressive face, adding inflection to his words just like she might do with her voice. "Do you work here in the lab?" 

"Not full time. I was training with Amanda." She paused, then decided to be as honest as she could be. "I'm on the team."

He blinked, and she could almost hear him flip through the options. He knew Doc and Natasha was a public figure. "You're the. . ." he frowned, then spelled out, "Telekinetic."

She grinned and nodded her fist up and down. "They haven't given me a call name. I'm just Wanda."

"I'm Zev." Well, that's what Amanda had called him. He didn't spell the name like she had hers. Instead it was a different sign, but she understood that it was his name. It reminded her a little of the motion of flicking someone on the head. An annoying brother, for example. "I'm in the M.D.-Ph.D. program at Cornell. I'm working with Dr. Cho and as part of my dissertation research."

"I know Dr. Cho." She and Pietro had been very happy to see the other woman alive and well at the Ithaca campus when they had moved in. "Are you working on her second skin project?"

"I'm researching applications for connective tissue replacement. Cartilage. It's not tremendously sexy, but it's a very big quality of life issue for a huge number of people." He shrugged. "Everybody wants to cure cancer or AIDS. I just want to make people's lives easier, I guess."

She was amused and delighted that the sign for "sexy" appeared to be the sign for sex plus the letter y. She wished she'd learned sign language a long time ago. "Amanda likes to talk about looking at the little picture. My father had bad knees. I'm sure he would have loved new cartilage."

"See? I'd like to make knee replacements look as outdated as leeches."

She made a very grossed out face at the mention of leeches, which made him laugh. "Well, I hope you perfect it by the time I need it. If bad knees is hereditary."

He tilted his head. "Can you fly?"

"Not really. I can levitate but it's only a little above the ground and I can't go far or fast." She paused and smiled. "Wanna see?"

"Are you kidding?"

After backing up a couple steps to give herself some space she thrust her hands down and shot out power. Her feet left the ground and floated up about eight inches. She hovered a moment, then lowered herself down gracefully.

Both of his hands flexed, and she wondered if that was the equivalent to opening and closing one's mouth wordlessly in speechlessness. "Okay," he said finally. "Wow."

She grinned, she couldn't help it. The team was more or less used to her powers and she didn't have much chance to show off. And he was kind of cute when he was impressed. "Natasha makes fun of me for moving my hands around. But it helps me focus."

"You have very pretty hands." He'd know, too.

Now she couldn't help looking at them. They were nice at that. "Thank you. My brother says they bend funny."

"My brothers say all manner of insulting things," he replied with clear affection for said brothers.

"That's what brothers are for. How many do you have?"

"Three. All older. Two older sisters too. My parents took that whole 'be fruitful and multiply' thing seriously."

She laughed. "Pietro and I are twins." She wasn't sure how much gossip had spread about them. "It was just us, but the others on the team seem to have adopted us, more or less."

Before he could answer, there was a knock on the door, and Amanda stuck her head in. "Hey. Saw Dr. Lee in the lab and was wondering what happened to you."

Wanda could pretty much understand any language that was being spoken to because people thought what they wanted to say before they formed words, but Pietro had complained about the people who worked for Dr. Cho in Seoul chatting in Korean and how it made him feel like he wasn't in the room. So she repeated it in sign language for Zev's benefit.

She answered Amanda out loud, but signed as well. "Sorry, I was chatting with Zev. I'll be right there."

Amanda glanced from one to the other, then nodded and disappeared again. Wanda looked back at Zev. "I guess I should go finish my lessons."

"It was really nice talking to you. Casual and spontaneous conversations are kind of a rare thing for me."

"I liked talking to you, too." She hesitated, not really sure what the next step should be. "How often are you here?"

He grinned back at her. "Every day for the next two months."

"We could get lunch sometime?"

He ducked his head, then looked back at her. "I'd like that. I think I probably owe you."

"Don’t worry about it. At least you know who to call if your interpreter isn't available again." Amanda was probably going to be tapping her foot. She started backing towards the door. "I better go. Have a good day."

"I'll see you later," he replied.

She waved goodbye and ducked out of the room. Amanda wasn't in the hall—in fact she'd gone back to her office and was typing away on her computer.

"Hi. I'm back, sorry."

"Quite all right." She clicked her mouse and stood. "I didn't know you knew sign language."

Wanda cleared her throat. "I sort of picked it up from him. To help."

"You really should ask permission," Amanda said, not sounding particularly firm about it. "But I'm not the Telepathy Police."

"Language is easy to skim off without getting anything personal," she said, trying not to sound defensive. "I thought I wasn't supposed to tell people about the mental part of my powers."

"That is the conundrum. Though, really, I doubt it matters at all if you read a stranger on a chance encounter."

Wanda debated asking if it mattered if she then had lunch with the stranger. She could deal with the moral implications of what she'd done later, if anything came of it. So she just nodded and stopped over to the patient table to restart her wound simulations.

"The girls put him on the Chart," Amanda said absently.

She was rather proud of the fact her hands didn't waiver and the wound she was examining. "How did he do?"

"Pretty well, apparently. Though I hear the math was particularly complicated."

"Because of the disability?" She'd heard similar things about Bucky's arm and Pietro's accent. Though she could live her whole life not knowing where he lay on the chart.

"Yes. Then one of them discovered he swims across the lake some mornings, and they had to redo all of their math."

Wanda's mouth opened and closed a couple times and she thought of Zev flexing his hands. "I - yes. I can see that would change things."

"I imagine you'd see him if you were inclined to look out your lakefront windows at the crack of dawn."

Her bedroom windows _did_ face the lake. "That might be worth waking at dawn for."

Amanda raised her eyebrows and murmured, "So I've heard."

Wanda looked over at her. "Have you-?"

"Ogled Lake Man? No. But Natasha saw him once. She was was half convinced Clint was imagining it the first time he told her there was some guy swimming out there. Like the Loch Ness Monster. This was when we were down in Honduras with the mudslides." Clint had sprained his knee, and they'd just left him and Natasha behind. "He was getting a little Rear Window."

Steve had told her it was easier to let pop culture references she didn't get slide and look them up later, so she didn't ask. "But Natasha confirmed the sighting?"

"Yes. Then had FRIDAY issue a bulletin that whomever was doing it should identify themselves or they might get shot." Amanda looked at her. "The Avengers cause a lot of potential HR problems." She changed the simulation to a different wound type. "Zev fessed up. Pooja redid the calculus."

Wanda remembered watching the Olympics once as a kid. She'd been too young for any sort of hormones to be involved, but she had definitely enjoyed the way the swimmers looked cutting through the water. "Maybe I'll ask him about it. If I see him again."

"Mmhmm," Amanda replied.

She had no idea if that was supposed to be encouragement or discouragement. Or maybe Amanda just didn't care and wanted her to get back to her work. Or she was filing the information away for later and Wanda was going to be pounced on by the wives club at a later date.

Probably that last one.

Wanda shook her head and bent over the hologram, humming quietly as she worked.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on Zev's "dialogue:"
> 
> Neither Olives nor I are fluent in ASL. (I know enough to say "please" and "thank you" to the nice barista with the hearing aid at the Starbucks near my daughter's school. One day I'll figure out "grande salted carmel mocha" and blow his mind.) From what I understand a lot of it is more idea based than spoken English. A direct translation would be kind of stilted and odd. So anything that Zev or someone talking to Zev says in quotation marks should be considered "spoken" in ASL unless otherwise noted, but translated to be easily understood in spoken English. We debated a while how or if to express ASL differently, but decided it would be a prohibitive amount of coding and complicate posting too much. Eventually, he and Wanda delve into telepathy and that will be shown with italics.

A great many things that had been invented in the last decade or so made Zev's life easier. His favorite, he thought, was the watch that vibrated very gently—like a tap—to get his attention for whatever notification he needed to see. He hated having to use flashing lights because they were so distracting. His sister was a software engineer at the company that made it, and she'd written him custom software so it could relay simple messages to him in morse code. Being able to receive information without having to look at something was a tremendous novelty for a deaf guy.

Right now it was nagging him that he was running late.

Three days a week he got up before dawn to run in the woods or swim in the lake at the Avengers Complex. He loved running outdoors, but it was pretty dangerous to do without company—unless you were on a trail somewhere with no cars, no bicyclists, no other pedestrians who expected you to hear them yelling "on your left" from ten feet behind you.

Open water swimming not plagued by boats and jet skis was even harder to come by. He'd started going out swimming every morning it was warm enough.

Warm, of course, was a relative term. For the lake water he was just going for "not likely to cause hypothermia.” 

He parked his car in the lot outside the labs, and ran a semi-circuitous route to the lake. Access was in the middle of the Avengers' housing complex. It was surrounded by an enormous fence—he'd once though to keep people out, but Amanda had explained to him one of the children had autism, and world class climbing skills. The fence was set up such so that he could roam and explore, instead of being confined to his own yard, but not be able to get lost in the woods. Zev admired that. His own parents had set up similar situations when he was little, to let him push the limits of what he could do, but without endangering his own safety.

There was a gravel path leading down to a gate that accessed the long dock. It ran between two houses, one clearly very old, the other brand new. The new one had on its back deck a telescope so massive he assumed it had to belong to Jane Foster. He had no idea otherwise which Avenger lived in what house. As he kicked off his shoes at the water's edge, he wondered which house Wanda lived in.

The water was cold, thought not as cold as it had been earlier in the summer. It would probably be warmest in the early fall, with all the heat of summer in it and before the snow came. He swam for a while, strokes long and smooth, falling into a good rhythm that he could zone out to. About halfway across he paused to get his bearings and noticed a figure on the back porch of the old house. Squinting, he could make out a dark red shawl and pale hands wrapped around a mug.

He had the strangest urge to wave, but he wasn't sure she could see him. He knew some of them were aware of his swimming; he personally considered having Clint Barton threaten to shoot him a life achievement of some sort. But he didn't think that meant he should assume she was watching him.

She was there the next two times he paused, but not the third, when he was most of the way back to the dock. Maybe she had just been enjoying the early morning air or something. He tried not to let that disappoint him. 

When he pulled himself up onto the dock Wanda was standing by his shoes, a large, fluffy white towel in her hands. When she held it out he could feel warmth radiating from it, like she'd just run it through the drier to heat it up.

His grin was probably foolishly wide. "Hi," he signed to her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Her hands were as pretty as he remembered. "Good morning."

The warm towel was amazing, and he had to make a deliberate effort not to groan. He was sort of self-conscious about semi involuntary sounds like that. Partially because he had no idea what he sounded like to others or what volume his voice was at. It could be normal or he could sound like a dying goat for all he knew. And because he didn't talk, people tended to assume he made no noise at all, ever, and it startled them. 

She waited patiently while he enjoyed the towel for a moment, and then briskly dried off. "Are you always up this early?" he asked.

She hesitated answering and he was pretty sure she was blushing. Someone else might not have noticed it, but he was used to watching for such emotional cues. "No," she finally admitted, looking sheepish. "Amanda told me you swam and I wanted to see for myself."

She'd gone out on a limb a little there, which made him happy, so he returned the favor. "Well, you've made my morning."

"I thought the towel would be a nice touch," she told him with a grin. "And possibly make up for the juvenile ogling."

He laughed before he could catch himself. "I forgive you."

There was a moment of surprise, but then her grin widened. "Do you want to come in for coffee? Warm up before work?"

"Coffee sounds fantastic."

She waited for him to gather up his shoes before leading him up the dock, then up the worn wooden steps to her porch and into the kitchen. It was warm and cozy, obviously updated but with a great deal of respect for the house's original design. He was immediately hit with the smell of coffee and baked goods that made him realized how hungry he was after the swim.

Wanda gestured to the stools along the island before bringing over the coffee pot and a mug. She started to try to sign, couldn't with the pot in her hand, and looked briefly dismayed before putting it down to ask him if he wanted cream or sugar.

"Just black. Thank you." He looked around the kitchen, then back at her. "Hell of a house."

She glanced around as if seeing it for the first time. "It's original to the property. Stark didn't want to tear it down since there wasn't anything actually wrong with it but no one was really sure they wanted to live in it. Pietro and I liked it. Reminded us of home."

"Where's home?"

"Sokovia." She finger spelled it carefully. "Up until last year, anyway."

"I'm sorry," he told her. "Was your family—" No, no good way to ask that. Not good breakfast conversation. "I'm sorry," he repeated instead.

It did deepen her mystery though. Her ASL was practically fluent, but she'd finger-spelled her name. It wasn't likely she had a loved one who was deaf or they'd have given her a name sign long ago. And it turned out she was European. Curious.

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "I had trouble sleeping last night and did some baking."

"I'm always hungry. People keep telling me my metabolism will slow down." He shrugged. "Maybe 30?"

"Maybe? I'm surrounded by big eaters, but most of them have a super powered excuse." She turned away to open the oven, pulling out a sheet pan with some sort of rolled pasty. Using a very sharp knife she cut them each a slice and plated. Before she gave it to him she paused long enough to ask, "Nut allergy?"

"No allergies of any kind."

She nodded and handed him the plate. It was a rolled pastry, like a cinnamon bun, but it oozed with honey, nuts and some sort of fluffy meringue. Whatever it was, it was delicious. "You made this?" he asked while he chewed.

"Yes." She poured herself more coffee. "It's called p-o-t-i-c-n. My mother made it around the holidays back home. I mentioned it to Sharon Rogers once and she asked me to make it and now she and the baby demand it regularly. So I make it once a week or so."

"If I were pregnant, I would demand this weekly, too." 

Wanda laughed. "You will have to get in line."

"It reminds me of my grandmother's Old Country food. She was never entirely clear which country she was talking about, considering she was born in New York and her parents weren't from the same country." He grinned at her. "I think one of the dishes turned out to be Italian, so the Old Country also included whatever country her neighbors were from, too." 

"Were you close to your grandmother?" she asked, leaning closer to him, obviously interested. "I knew my mother's mother when I was very little. I'm sure this was her recipe."

He nodded. "She took care of us during the day while my mother worked." Her eyebrows went up. "Yeah, with six kids. It's actually crazier than that. She's a doctor. I complained about the workload of med school to her exactly once. She replied, 'Try that with toddlers'. All of the women in my family could chew nails, though."

"Are any of your siblings doctors too?"

"Oldest is an orthopedic surgeon. Can I have another piece?" He gestured and she sliced one and put it on his plate. "We also have a pharmacist, a lawyer, a software engineer, and my oldest sister is a logistics coordinator for MSF. We were raised with high expectations."

She studied him a moment then said, almost hesitantly, "And you decided to exceed them by getting two advanced degrees at once?"

"I am. . ." He had to stop and think of the right word. "A rather contrary person."

Her smile was sweet and oddly affectionate. "I will keep that in mind."

"Also, I'm legitimately the smartest of my siblings."

"I wish I had some sort of official paperwork to prove I was smarter than Pietro."

"My mother is a psychiatrist. She had us all evaluated. Though I think it was because she wanted to have _me_ evaluated, but wanted it to be fair." 

Wanda had finished her pastry and brought her sticky plate to the sink, leaning next to it with her coffee mug. She sipped a moment, then put it down to sign. "I get the sense they didn't treat you any different."

"No, they were good about that. They made the entire family learn and use sign language. I attended the same schools as my siblings. When I had my Bar Mitzvah they made me learn Israeli sign language, just because my siblings had had to learn Hebrew. They gave no quarter."

To his surprise, mention of a Bar Mitzvah made her brighten visibly. "You're Jewish?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You are the first person I have ever met who is surprised by that. In New York, my name is the auditory equivalent of tattooing a Star of David on my forehead."

Tilting her head, she made a face and signed, with a surprising amount of sarcasm, "I'm on a team with an alien named Thor. You think I judge anything by name?"

"I did not mean to impugn your honor. You are from another country and all. It seems to be good news to you. Likewise or weird fetish?" He smiled to show he was teasing.

"Why can't it be both?" she teased back. "I was raised Jewish as a child. Didn't have any opportunity to practice after my parents died. Just starting to get back into it."

"I'll bring you home for Passover, it'll scare you off for life."

"I'm an Avenger, nothing scares me." She frowned and glanced at her watch. "Sorry. I need to get ready for training with Nat. If I'm late she makes me run laps."

He glanced at his watch. "If I were working today I would be late." He looked back at her. "If you are going to run laps, I feel like I've earned a lawn chair and a return ogle."

She laughed. Her face lit up when she was happy. "Well, we'll be in the gym this morning from 8:30 till 11."

"I'm not allowed in your fancy gym." He folded up her towel, which he'd been sitting on.

"Then I suppose ogling will have to wait for another day." She took the towel from him. "What are your plans if you're not working?"

"Stare at my computer screen and pretend I'm working on my dissertation."

"Well, then I wish you the best of luck."

He came around to the doorway so she could show him out. "Thank you for the breakfast. And the towel. Particularly running it through the dryer."

"My mother used to do it to our pajamas on snowy evenings. Right before bed." She smiled fondly, leading him out onto the porch. "Some memories are hazy but that one sticks out." Shaking her head, she turned to face him fully. "Maybe I'll surprise you again at the end of your swim."

"Maybe I'll swim more often." He felt, strangely, like he was at the end of a date. Complete with the sudden urge to kiss her.

The prospect of more swimming seemed to make her extremely happy, at least. "I shall set my alarm." She hesitated a moment, then signed, "Have a good day, Zev," and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. 

He closed his eyes and took a breath, trying to memorize her scent. It took him a moment to manage, "You, too."

She nodded, smiling sweetly, then slipped into the house, closing the door behind her.

*

Amanda had told Wanda once, when discussing an injury she'd had to her knee a couple years ago, that if you didn't hate your trainer then they weren't doing their job correctly. She'd been referring to her PT who had helped her heal up from the dislocation. But Wanda had found it applied to any sort of trainer who put you through grueling physical exertion when really, all you wanted to do was lay down and take a nap.

She stood, panting, on one end of the gym while Nat patiently waited for her to finish her line sprints. Wanda briefly wondered how much trouble she'd be in for knocking her down with a telekinetic blast and making a break for it. Probably a lot; Nat knew where she lived. So she gulped some water and did another round.

Nat was at the other end, looking very stern and Russian. "Your times are improving."

"That's. . . very . . . reassuring." She guzzled more water. In truth, it was easier than it had been when she'd first started training. She might even be able to walk back home instead of collapsing into a cart and dozing off halfway there.

"Be glad it's me," she said. "Clint would make you do one-armed pull-ups."

Considering she could barely do a two armed, modified push up, she was going to be grateful Pietro had gotten Clint in the trainer lottery. "My brother complains about him quite colorfully."

"I still can't tell if they're going to be good friends or just kill each other one day."

Wanda laughed. "Pietro has that effect on people."

"I think we'll call it a day," Nat said. She never told Wanda when training sessions would end. Some sort of psychological training thing. You never knew when a mission would end, either.

"Oh, good. I can catch Steve and Sharon before lunch." Showing up at the Rogerses with food always greased the wheels of conversation.

"Feeding the bump?" Nat asked.

"Always." They walked towards the showers. Wanda was sweaty enough a rinse before leaving the building sounded like a good idea. "And I need to talk to the Captain about something and thought a little bribery would not go amiss."

"Anything wrong?" Her voice was neutral, making it clear Wanda was welcome not to answer.

It was something she appreciated about Nat, why they worked well together. Nat was willing to give exactly as much or as little help and advice as Wanda was willing to accept. "Hopefully not." She paused, considering if she wanted to tell her or not. Finally she decided that in this particular instance more advice was better. "There is a man I met. One of Amanda's students. I like him and am confident he likes me. We haven't been on a date but the potential is there. I need to know how much I can tell him about me and my powers."

"I'm a fan of honesty in relationships, myself."

"As am I. I've just been informed that certain things are state secrets and there's a limit to who I can share them with." She gave a wry smile. "Never thought I would need to get my dates government clearance."

"It's hard to ask someone to hide such an important part of themselves."

"It is," she agreed. "And maybe he'll tell me I can be honest and use my best judgement. But I feel better checking ahead of time."

"You might try talking Violet if you need ammo. I get the sense Bruce waited way too long to share certain pertinent facts."

"I will keep that in mind if Steve gets too Captainy."

Natasha smiled as they reached the showers. "Good luck. You did good today."

Praise from Nat was rare and always sincere. Wanda tried not to grin too widely. "Thank you."

She hesitated, then added. "If you can find a way to make it work, you should. We need stuff like that to do what we do."

"Someone to come home to?"

"Yeah. Something and someone that's yours."

For a very long time that person, for her, had been Pietro. She had thought growing up he would be all she would ever need. Being with the team had taught them how nice it could be to have other people to depend on. A more complete net to be caught in. Her interest in Zev told her there was room for even more. Though she was a little worried how Pietro would handle his baby sister dating. "I will let you know what comes of it," she told Nat.

Nat nodded, and as she walked off she called over her shoulder. "Good. I'd hate for your personal life to become just sitting on your porch trying to catch a glimpse of Lake Man."

Wanda opened her mouth to tell her, but the other woman was already gone. Well. That would be a fun surprise for later.


	3. Chapter 3

Wanda rinsed off and changed into normal clothes, then walked back home, gym bag slung over her shoulder. Her legs felt like jelly by the time she got there and it was sheer determination that got her through wrapping the poticn in foil and strolling down to the Rogerses’ home.

Sharon pulled the door open before she could knock. "I saw you walking."

"I have brought the weekly offering," Wanda said, holding out the pastry.

Sharon took the pastry with glee and turned back into the house. She was just getting a very adorable little bump. When Wanda had believed the Avengers were evil just because they were associated with Stark, they hadn't really been people. Just cardboard cutouts with ridiculous names. She never thought of them as human beings with families and loved ones. Now she chased Violet and Bruce's children around the playground and sometimes babysat for Tony Stark.

When she thought about it too hard, it still didn't seem real.

She followed Sharon through the house to the kitchen where Steve seemed to be fixing lunch. "Wanda brought me my score," Sharon announced happily.

"You know, you're not required to keep baking for her," Steve commented.

"I do not wish to face the wrath of a disappointed pregnant woman."

Sharon already had a slice in her mouth, and offered a muffled, "Thank you," around it.

"You're welcome." She looked at Steve. "I need to talk to you about something."

He leaned against his kitchen counter, casual as anything. "Shoot."

"How much am I allowed to tell people about my powers?"

Steve didn't even have to think about it. "Without clearance? Nothing."

"How do I get someone cleared?"

"Government requests through Sharon, all others through Hill." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Why?"

There were more dignified ways to say this, but the conversation was already bordering on too serious. "There's a boy I like."

"A civilian?"

For a moment she tried to think what non-civilian she would have met that didn't already know about her powers already. She didn't leave the compound often. Well, Steve liked to cover all his bases. "Yes. One of Amanda's students."

He blinked. "Aren't they a little young?"

"Medical school, not undergrad," Sharon said between bites. Then she chewed but gave Wanda the thumbs up.

She smiled in gratitude. "He's working on his MD and PhD simultaneously," she told him, feeling oddly like she was reporting to her father. Which, in a way. . . "He swims across the lake in the mornings."

Before Steve could even open his mouth, Sharon said, "Lake Man?"

Steve turned. "I thought Barton imagined that?"

"Oh, no. He's real. He looks really good without a shirt. And I'm a connoisseur." She looked back at Wanda, and this time gave her both thumbs up.

Wanda laughed. "His name is Zev," she offered. "He's deaf."

"And you want to tell him about your powers?" That was Steve.

"Eventually. I don't think I could keep that big of a secret from someone I'm in a relationship with."

He sighed and tipped his head back. "I'm uncomfortable telling you yes. But I'm also uncomfortable telling you no."

"Because you hate information leaks as much as you do lying," Sharon said, cutting herself another piece of pastry.

"I suppose if you wanted him to get clearance I could ask him."

"I think that would be a reasonable compromise, but I'd like to talk to the others."

That seemed reasonable considering she and Zev hadn't actually been on a date or anything. "I don't need an answer now."

Steve was watching her. "It's for your own safety, Wanda. You know that, don't you?"

She had no illusions how frightening other people would find her powers. "I know. I don't want to be a lab rat." She smiled. "Again, anyway."

"We'll figure something out."

"I'll make sure he does," Sharon added.

"I would never deprive you of your pastries. No matter what he decides."

"I know. My hormones just want everyone to be happy and in love."

"There are worse urges." Wanda smiled at Sharon's stomach.The baby had started getting louder and louder. "He's very happy about his secondhand sugar."

Sharon's hand stopped with piece of poticn halfway to her mouth. From Wanda's right, Steve said, "He?"

Wanda blinked. It had come out unconsciously, but now that she was paying attention she realized the little presence in Sharon's abdomen was distinctly male. "You did say you wanted to know early."

Sharon made a shrieking sound and clapped her hands. Though Wanda got the sense that there really wasn't a wrong answer to this particular question. As he came around to hug his wife, Steve seemed particularly pleased that he was the first among his friends to produce a son.

When they were done hugging each other, Sharon bounced over to hug Wanda, who obligingly jumped up and down with her for a little bit.

"If you really wanted to butter me up, you'd have lead with that," Steve commented.

"I didn't realize till I said it." She patted the bump lightly. "Yes. Definitely boy."

Sharon's eyes looked a little watery. "You should be able to tell people about this. About what you can do. It's wonderful."

"I think some of that is the hormones talking," Wanda said. "But I'm happy to abuse my powers for my friends. Whoever gets pregnant next will be bugging me daily." Her money was on the Barneses for the next happy announcement. Though she knew Pepper was working on it. Her legs were really starting to ache. "I probably should get back."

"Nat beat you up?"

"They are getting less painful." As if to punish her for her pride, her hamstring twinged and she winced. "Though still not pleasant."

"Hot bath," Sharon told her. "Then ice and ibuprofen. Two out of three of those I can no longer have, by the way.

"That's tragic."

"Pregnancy is not for wusses."

Wanda agreed wholeheartedly, then said he goodbyes and headed home, trying not to limp.

Pietro was on the couch when she walked in. "Tub's filling."

"You are an angel," she told him. "How was your morning?"

"Stark's new shoes hold up better than I'm used to." Pietro went through sneakers by the case. "But they gave me a blister."

"Oh, that's too bad." She put a foot on the stairs, then paused and glanced back at him. "Have you ever thought about. . . dating?"

He lowered the book he was reading. "I can't say going into town and picking up one of the many hot college students milling around hasn't crossed my mind."

"But?"

He shrugged. "There's a lot I'm still getting used to. Being here, the team. Even my abilities. Adding a girl on top of that doesn't seem fair. To her or me."

She was not under the impression her brother lacked for company if he desired it. She appreciated he was limiting his answers to actual relationships instead of bragging about random hookups. "But what if one just. . . happened?"

Pietro's eyes narrowed a little and she braced for an interrogation. But he just said, "I suppose I'd have to decide how to handle it when it happened."

"That's remarkably prudent," she told him. "Clint must be rubbing off on you."

Her brother made a grumbling noise and rolled his eyes. "Go have your bath."

She laughed and limped up the stairs, bath calling to her.

*

Wednesday, Chuck was back at work, and so was Zev. 

He'd had a full time interpreter from the time he was a small child. His mother was a psychiatrist and his father a neurosurgeon. They'd dug through the scientific research after he'd been diagnosed and had come to the then-controversial decision not to prioritize teaching him to speak. Language acquisition was the top priority, and that was best done through sign language.

He'd had an interpreter in his classrooms from kindergarden. Who it was changed every couple of years. They'd hired Chuck his junior year in college when his previous interpreter could no longer keep up with the terminology in his science and math classes. The school would have provided interpreters free, but they weren't up to snuff. You'd think Johns Hopkins would have science-friendly interpreters, but they were too expensive.

He'd been intensely grateful Chuck had been willing to uproot his family and move to Ithaca when Zev came to Cornell. Handling med school and breaking in a new interpreter would have been awful.

"You're awfully quiet today."

Of course, you work with someone for seven years, you get to be friends. At the moment, they were sitting around waiting for Dr. Cho to show up for a meeting. Zev was going over charts. Chuck was supposedly reading a book. "Thinking."

"Still stuck on your dissertation?"

That made Zev laugh. "Ah. No. Personal things."

Chuck looked unabashedly interested. "Oh, really?"

"I. . . there's a girl."

"I'm sick for three days and you meet someone? Where? Here?"

He hoped he didn't regret mentioning this. But then, he and Chuck didn't have a lot of secrets. "Here. She was doing some work with Doc." It was a building full of doctors, but there was only one Doc.

"I am impressed you chatted up a girl via notebook."

"I didn't," he said, making a face. "She can sign."

"Oh, thank god. For a moment I was afraid this was the run up to you asking me to interpret for you on a date."

"You know a couple of weeks ago Matt insisted that it would be totally fine for you to do so." Zev hadn't dated much since starting med/grad school. He was a lousy lipreader and an even poorer speaker, so he tended not to date hearing women. Combine that with a severe lack of free time, opportunities were thin on the ground. Chuck's husband had been on an increasingly less subtle campaign to fix that lately.

"So you met a girl, who studies here, who signs, whom you like enough to distract you several days later. Have you considered playing the lottery or anything while you're on this streak?"

"She's not studying here, per se. She works here."

He could see Chuck going through the list of people he knew worked on the campus. "Nurse?"

"Nothing medical, actually." 

Another pause while he thought. "Have you developed a crush on Black Widow? Because I have several reasons that's a bad idea."

That made Zev laugh. "You know, there are lots of other women who work here."

"Well, I'm running out of options. Are you keeping it a secret on purpose?"

"I realize you were joking about Black Window. But she is, actually, the other Lady Avenger."

Chuck's brows went up. "The telekinetic?"

"Yes. It's so rare I surprise you, this pleases me."

"I am also impressed. She's very pretty. And mysterious. She knows ASL? I thought she was from Europe?"

"She is. I have no idea. Isn't there some saying about gift horses?"

"True." He grinned. "So when's the date?"

"I have no idea. We had breakfast the other day, her house faces the lake. Does that count?"

"She saw you swimming?" Zev nodded. "That probably counts."

"Okay, why is this such a big deal? I keep hearing comments about it."

Chuck rolled his eyes and shook his head. "First off, most people cannot swim across a lake on a regular basis. And second, and I say this from a purely aesthetic perspective because I am a happily married man, you are sexy with your shirt off."

"It's not that big a lake." He was not going to comment on the other thing.

"It's still impressive. That's mountain run off. It's cold."

"It's not cold, it's bracing." His parents had sent him to Deaf Camp in the summers as a kid. His favorite one had been situated on a snow-melt stream in the Colorado Rockies.

"Admit it, you're secretly one of those polar bear club people from Alaska."

"Did I ever tell you one of my grandmothers was from an isolated village in the Austrian Alps?"

"That explains it all." He shook his head. "So, what's her name? Are you going to go on a proper date?"

"Wanda. And I have no idea. I hope so. I suppose it will depend on if she's standing on the dock tomorrow morning." He couldn't do the lake swim two days in a row. His shoulders might give out and cause him to drown.

"Well, I will cross my fingers for that, then."

"She might be out of my league," he commented. "But I really like her, so. . ." he shrugged.

"There is something to be said for dating an Avenger. Are Captain America and the Hulk going to threaten you when you pick her up?"

"They're welcome to try, I expect I won't understand a word."

Chuck obviously laughed. "That would make it even more entertaining."

Dr. Cho showed up, bustling down the hall towards them. "Sorry, sorry." Dr. Cho knew exactly two signs; _I'm sorry_ and _Thank you_. Zev appreciated it when people did that, no matter how small it was. And he'd rather get to work than contemplate the Avengers getting all big brother on him.

At the end of the day they walked to their cars. "You be sure to tell me how your swim goes tomorrow," Chuck told him, grinning.

"So you can tell Matt because he's going to ask you about it every 30 minutes?"

"He'll be waiting with bated breath and you know it."

On his run to the lake in the morning, he was as nervous as he'd been in quite a long time. He tried not to think about that too hard. There was no sign of her when he reached the dock and he told himself not to read anything into it. It was early. He stripped down, kicked off his shoes and dove into the water.

He forced himself not to glance back on the way out. But when he was on his way back he paused to readjust his trajectory and sure enough, there she was on the end of the dock, thick towel in her arms.

The towel wouldn't be warm by the time he got there, but he was content to let her watch. And maybe he pushed himself a little harder to get there the last few hundred yards.

Wanda was grinning widely when he reached the dock and reached out to wrap the towel around his shoulders once he got to his feet beside her. "Good morning."

The towel was warm. "How—Wait, you did it with your. . ." Telekinesis had a lot of letters in it. And it felt strangely cold and clinical. So he chose the sign for "Magic" instead.

It seemed to confuse her for a moment, then laughed. "Yes. I can make-" She tipped her head back, apparently hunting for a word. "Bubbles around things. I kept the heat in."

"Sure seems like magic to me."

"I suppose in a way it is." She shrugged. "We should head in for breakfast or I'll start showing off."

He grinned. "You can show off anytime."

She studied him a moment, then tilted her head as if she was listening to something. Then she gave a little nod and stepped towards the end of the dock. She glanced back to make sure he was watching, then faced the water again. She held her hands out in front of her and flicked them down. Two furrows dug into the water, shooting out from the dock towards the center of the lake. When they reached it they met and a fountain of water shot out of the water, the thin spray making a rainbow.

When she finally looked back at him, he was staring at her, his eyes so dark they were almost black. "You are magic."

To his surprise, that made her look a little sad. But she stepped close and kissed his cheek, like she had the last time. "Come up to the house," she said, stepping back so he could see her signs. "There's something we need to talk about."

That didn't bode well. She looked very serious. As he followed her up the dock he pondered his options. She must have someone. It seemed the most logical. He was pretty certain he didn't misread her interest, but that didn't make her available. Now they were going to have to have a very awkward conversation. He really wished he hadn't told Chuck about her.

*

Nerves were now coming off of Zev in waves. Wanda mentally kicked herself as she pour them coffee and dug two plates of French toast out of the warm oven. _We need to talk. Smooth, Maximoff. Not ominous at all._

She put his plate and coffee in front of him and signed quickly. "I really like you."

"I like you, too," he said, his face far more neutral than it probably should be. Conveying tone in a visual language was harder than she expected, so he seemed to hear a 'but' that she hadn't intended. It might be easier to concentrate if he was wearing a shirt.

Okay, just plow ahead. She'd rehearsed this several times in her head this morning She just had to get it out. "I would like to-" She paused, rooting around for the right signs. ASL was more concept than specific words. "Know you better. And have you know me. But there are certain things about me and my powers that are considered state secrets." She paused again, then sighed and just came out with it. "Would you be willing to get security clearance to date me?"

He blinked a few times, looking very surprised. But he nodded.

That was. . . far easier than she'd expected. "Really?"

"I think it's terrible that they require that of you. But that isn't your fault."

She really wanted to hug him but - again -shirtless. "Steve felt bad about it. No one else has had these sort of issues. It really is for my safety." Hopefully, he would understand once he knew everything.

He shrugged, and she watched the muscles in his shoulders shift. "My entire life is an exercise in special accommodations. In asking people for things that are inconvenient and/or expensive, just so that I can do something that is easy and normal to most people."

"You have a right to do those things. Dating me is optional."

"For me, maybe, but not for you. Unless you want to spend your life alone. This is something you need, that is inconvenient and/or expensive to me, so you can be on a level playing field with the last girl I took to dinner."

If she smiled wider her face would start to hurt. "I will talk to Maria Hill and see what is involved." And then, because she'd laid everything else out on the table, she added, "Sort of want to kiss you now."

He made a sound, half sigh and half groan. She was almost certain he wasn't even aware of it, but it was pretty hot. "I'm a fan of living in the moment."

Jumping or levitating over the kitchen island would probably be undignified. So she leaned over and he leaned in and she kissed him, gentle and soft and rather chaste. They parted after a moment, and for only and inch or two. Then he took her by the arm and tugged her towards the end of the island, both of them coming around it to meet at the end. One last tug and she collided with his chest, and then they were kissing for real.

She cupped his face in her hands and he tangled his in her hair. He took control of the kiss, tipping her head back and deepening it. Desire tightened her skin, formed a hot knot in her belly. She felt her powers start to respond to the emotion and jerked her hands away from him to direct it downwards. 

The stool nearest them rattled and bumped the island. The noise made her jump, and he lifted his head, a small frown creasing his brow. He raised and eyebrow in inquiry.

"Sorry." She gestured at the stool, still wobbling. "I'm working on controlling them when I'm. . . distracted."

He glanced at the stool, then back at her with a grin on his face. "So it's dangerous to distract you?"

"I won't hurt you," she assured him.

"I'm a guy who likes roller coasters," he replied.

She laughed a little, leaning in to kiss him again, not letting it get too interesting. "Good." She liked being tucked against him like this, warm and surrounded. He was built like a swimmer, not particularly muscle-bound, but strong and lean. If he had any body fat anywhere, she hadn't seen it—and his running shorts didn't leave a whole hell of a lot to the imagination. She ran her fingertips over his abs because she couldn't _not_ , and he flinched and laughed. He was ticklish.

Neither of them seemed inclined to move, which meant they couldn't talk. But that was okay. There was something nice about the quiet.

She was listening to the steady thump of his heart beat under her cheek when she became aware of her brother making his way through the woods on his run. Distance runs didn't do much for him, so Clint had him carrying weights to help his endurance and usefulness. He was currently tired, annoyed, and aware of a blister blooming on his ankle again. 

And less than five minutes from home.


	4. Chapter 4

Leaning back enough to free her hands, she told Zev, "My brother will be here soon and while I'm fine introducing you, it probably shouldn't be while I'm wrapped around your naked chest."

That _clearly_ pleased him. "I think I'd like to be wearing more when I meet your brother. Did I bring my. . ." She didn't see the rest of that, because he turned, looking for what turned out to be his shirt. He might have been talking to himself. She had no idea deaf people did that, too. 

He dried off his hair, and she admired his back until it disappeared beneath the fabric of his t-shirt. When he turned back around, he said, "You don't mind if I'm here? I can go." He then looked longingly over at the french toast they hadn't touched.

Ideally, she'd get Pietro used to the idea of her dating before introducing them. But that was silly. They were all adults, he went out on the town a couple nights a month, sometimes more. She could make breakfast for a respectable college student that was now, regrettably, fully dressed. "It's all right," she told Zev. "I made it for you, you should eat it."

As he sat at the island she reached out to Pietro who was now at the tree line. _I have a friend over. Be nice when you come in._

_Why wouldn't I be nice? I'm always nice._ There was a pause, then, _Unless it's Barton_

The fact she and Pietro could communicate like this - at least over short distances - was part of the long list of state secrets about her. _No. It's someone new. BE NICE._

He was on the porch, and then she could hear the heavy wood front door slam. "Wanda?"

"In the kitchen," she called back. "I made French toast." She got Zev's attention and signed, "He's here. I'll do my best to translate."

Zev reached for a napkin to wipe his mouth as Pietro walked in. "Smells good," he said, in English. They generally spoke in Sokovian while alone. The English was likely how he was interpreting the orders to be nice.

That he was listening to that was probably a good sign. "Your plate is in the oven," she said, hands moving instinctively in signs. "This is my friend Zev. Zev, this is my brother, Pietro."

Zev waved, Pietro waved back. Then he raised an eyebrow at Wanda. 

She sighed. "He works with Dr. Cho. I met him last week, his interpreter was sick and I helped out." After a brief mental debate she added, "He's also Lake Man."

"Yeah, I know. I see him running in the woods sometimes." She supposed, having neither Barton and Barnes's intruder paranoia nor the women's enjoyment of the eye candy, that wasn't as interesting to him. He opened the over to get his food out. He'd apparently gathered that Zev couldn't hear him and had gone back to Sokovian. "I was not aware you knew sign language."

She glanced over at Zev, then reached for her coffee to give herself an excuse to not translate right away. "I picked it up from him. He needed someone to translate for him." She sipped her coffee and told Zev Pietro had seen him running.

He gave her a stern look, but didn't comment. Instead he said, "So you have to repeat everything either one of us says? That's awkward."

She repeated it in sign for Zev and added, in sign and out loud, "Translating a conversation I'm in the middle of is complicated."

"Could probably figure out something with FRIDAY." Their house was surprisingly well wired given its age. Cal Bennett had come over to do it personally because he didn't trust the crews. None of the plaster was even disturbed. 

Zev was eating his breakfast, seemingly unfazed by the fact that her brother was kind of talking to her like he wasn't there. Though, she expected that wasn't too uncommon. 

Pietro brought his plate over to the other end of the island from Zev and started shoveling french toast into his mouth. Wanda sighed softly and signed "Sorry," at Zev silently.

He shrugged, not looking offended. "Could be worse."

"I suppose he hasn't puffed up and started asking about your intentions." She checked her watch. She needed to get ready for her day, but no way was she leaving them alone together. Zev was almost done with his food anyway. "So when are we having a proper date?"

"I think that's supposed to be my line," he said. "This weekend?"

"I have no plans."

He finished his breakfast and took the plate over to the sink. "Friday at 7."

She grinned, watching him. "I can't wait."

Zev pushed off the sink, cast a brief glance over at Pietro, and then looked back at her. He tipped her chin up and kissed her. It was exceedingly chaste, but it was a territorial stake in the ground if ever she saw one.

She touched his cheek lightly, pointedly not looking at her brother. "Have a good day," she told Zev. "I'll see you Friday."

"Friday," he said, and then he turned and was gone.

Pietro waited until they heard the door close before speaking, "So. Was I nice enough?"

She took a fortifying breath. "Yes, you were very pleasant. Please continue to be when he picks me up for our date on Friday."

"That will be plenty of time for me to rally the other men to line up and glare."

That was probably a joke, but just in case she went over and hugged him around the shoulders. "If you do I will hypnotize you all into thinking you're at a tea party and have Sharon take pictures."

"I suppose you don't really need me to protect you, do you?"

"No, I do not." She kissed his cheek. "I know you want to. And I appreciate it. But I'm an adult. And I like him. I would like the chance to get to know him without my superhero big brothers trying to intimidate him."

"Does he know about your powers?"

"The publicly acknowledged ones." She sighed and straightened. "He needs security clearance to know the rest. I talked to Steve about it."

"Will they give it to him?"

"Hopefully? He works in the labs so he has some clearance already." She stole a bite of his French toast. "He was willing to go through the process, at least."

"He really must like you, those forms were a pain in the ass."

She smiled, warming at the thought of Zev's kiss and the way he'd looked at her when she'd showed off at the lake. "I think he does. Really like me."

"You are highly likable."

"You're biased," she said, nudging him. "But thank you." She checked her watch and sighed. "I should get ready."

"I need to shower, I probably stink."

"You do a little, yes." She headed for the stairs. "Thank you for being nice."

"Eh. I was too tired to posture anyway."

She laughed softly, shaking her head as she headed upstairs.

*

Friday morning Zev woke up to an email from Maria Hill with several attachments. The content of the email was, _Return completed forms to me to begin clearance process. Nice abs._ He supposed he should count himself lucky there wasn't a key to Wanda's chastity belt joke or something.

Chuck was possibly more excited about the date than Zev was, going so far as to text Matt in the middle of the work day about it. He then had to pass along _Matt's_ second hand enthusiasm as well. Zev wondered if he was sad he wouldn't get to tag along.

He certainly had lots of opinions. "Are you sure you want to go to _that_ place?"

"It's my favorite gastropub," Zev replied, and then deliberately looked back at his paperwork so as not to see the reply.

Chuck waited. "It is really loud in there."

"I can't say I noticed."

" _She_ will. Plus it's always crowded, she might get recognized."

"You think she's that recognizable?"

Chuck shrugged. "She's an Avenger. I'm sure there's youtube videos and fan sites about her."

"Would it be a good idea or a bad idea to google that?"

"I'm guessing most of it is photoshopped, so it's not like it would give you any reliable information." He paused then gestured to his phone. "Want me to?"

He considered it. "No. We should be on an even playing field."

"You're a better man than me, Zev."

"Besides, I'm absolutely certain that Matt has already done so and would tell you if there was anything awful I needed to be wary of."

"Can she really lift boulders with her powers?"

"I don't know. But it wouldn't surprise me."

Chuck gave him a canny look. "Has she shown off for you?"

"Twice now. I find it very hot, though I couldn't tell you why."

"Power is sexy in all its forms."

He thought about her knocking the stool around while they were kissing. It made him wonder if sex would break the bed. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about that, actually. "True."

If some of that showed on his face, Chuck chose not to comment. "I expect an email or something tomorrow with as many details as you're willing to give up."

Of course he did. He looked at his watch, and then asked, "Can you think of somewhere better to go?"

Without responding, Chuck picked up his phone and tapped a moment. "Matt has sent you a list."

The email showed up a moment later. It had nine restaurants on it. He'd even included links to their OpenTable pages so Zev could make reservations without having to have Chuck call. "We need to talk about the both of you and your interest in my love life."

"I've known you a long time," Chuck said when Zev looked back at him. "You're my friend. Matt considers you family. We want you happy. Granted, you can be happy without a partner, but you've seemed sort of. . . isolated since coming here. I was getting worried about you. Then this girl catches your eye. We're happy for you."

Zev smiled, touched. "I consider you guys family, too."

"Good. We look forward to having our new little sister over for dinner soon."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't get carried away."

That evening, he parked his car in the lab lot and took one of the little electric cars over to Wanda's house. Technically, he could have taken his car the whole way, but it would have been very noticeable to all of the residents and he didn't want her to get interrogated. 

He really considered texting her from out front, just to avoid dealing with her brother. But that would be cowardly, and Zev was not a coward. So he got out and knocked on the front door. Time stretched and he was considering knocking again when the door opened.

Wanda stood in the doorway, in a black sheath dress with a red flower pattern and black boots that stopped just below her knee. She smiled beautifully when she saw him, called something over her shoulder and stepped out onto the porch.

"I admit, I was half expecting your brother and a shotgun. This is a much prettier sight."

"There was talk of it. He may be pinned to the foyer wall like a bug. We should start walking."

He laughed and offered her his arm. Once they were inside the little car, he shifted to look at her. "I want a self-driving car for the road."

"These are handy." She smiled. "And we can talk."

That hearing people had conversations while driving baffled him a little. Maybe his brain was wired differently because of the way he communicated—his parents seemed to think it was—but it struck him as very distracting. Though he'd find having her in his passenger seat distracting enough. That was a very nice dress. "You wear a lot of red," he commented.

She looked down, smoothing a hand over her skirt, before answering. "My favorite color. I like bright things."

He touched just a bit of the fabric. "It looks good on you."

She signed "Thank you," with one hand and touched the back of his hand with the other. Her fingers were warm and soft against his skin.

"I'd kiss you, but there are two people in the turret of the house across the street. I'm pretty sure one of them is using the scope of a sniper rifle to watch us on behalf of your brother. At least, I hope so, and not the other option."

Scowling, she ducked her head to look up at the scope. "Clint and Bucky." Her fingers flexed like she was contemplating zapping them, then decided against it. "They're taking their surrogate big brother roles very seriously."

"I feel a little bit like Hawkeye threatening to shoot you--twice--is some sort of life achievement."

"If you somehow make it to three I will get you a medal."

They reached his actual car, which he was pretty sure should be out of the line of sight of the Avengers' houses, but you never knew. So he just held doors for her as they changed vehicles. She made a point of kissing him and holding up a middle finger towards the Barton's house on her way into the car.

Damn, but did he like this girl.

He let this kiss go on, let her tuck herself against him and eventually wrap both arms around his neck. Nobody shot him.

Eventually, they had to part, both breathing hard. Wanda smiled and stroked her fingers along his cheek. Then she released him and sank into the passenger seat of his car, tucking her legs in so he could close the door. As he walked around the car to his door her noticed a swath of grass next to the parking pad that he was fairly certain had been intact when he parked had been flattened and churned up. 

He really should not find that as hot as he did.

"Feel free to put the radio on," he told her when he got in. "If driving in silence will bother you."

"Thank you." She reached over an poked at the radio a moment as they drove out to the main road.

The restaurant was the least pretentious-looking one on Matt's list. Dealing with hosts and wait staff always made him nervous. He was pretty good at navigating the hearing world, but interactions that required talking, and he didn't have Chuck with him, had the potential to be awkward. Even if his date could speak and read lips. Or hear.

"Did you make a reservation?" she asked him as they walked in. He nodded, and she said, "You know, I have no idea what your last name is."

"Taschengregger." He could see it take her a minute to assemble the word because it had so many letters.

"How do you pronounce that?"

Zev laughed. "Hell if I know. Though I do know it means 'pickpocket'."

She was laughing now, too. "That's kind of awesome."

They walked up to the hostess podium and Wanda spoke to the woman. They went back and forth a moment, then she leaned over the edge of the podium to peer at the hostess's computer. She pointed at something and they both laughed before the other woman gathered up menus and gestured for them to follow her. It had been easy and natural and not at all awkward.

As was Wanda taking his arm as they wound their way through the restaurant to their table.

After they sat down he waited for her to peruse the menu—he'd looked when he made the reservation. When she looked up he told her what he wanted to she could order for them. "I filled out all the security clearance paperwork."

Her brows went up. "That was fast."

He shrugged. "Maria Hill sent it this morning. Depending on the background check people's degree of inflexibility and/or derp, we may have some drama with the phone like I do with banks, but we'll see."

"Well. I will cross my fingers for flexible government officials."

"I have a phone number, entirely for text message, and it's voicemail directs people to call Chuck. There is a not-insignificant number of institutions that are adamant they must speak with me and me alone."

"That seems oddly short sighted and pointlessly bureaucratic." She frowned. "If you have trouble let me know and I can tell Sharon. She frightens government officials and owes me a favor."

"I will. I feel like the usual solution, which is to have Chuck lie, might not be a good idea."

"That will probably look bad, yeah."

"So should I wait until after the clearance arrives before I start asking you questions about yourself?"

She seemed to consider a moment. "You can ask me anything you like if you're okay with me occasionally answering 'that's classified.'"

"You're European. You speak American Sign Language. And you finger-spell your own name, which indicates you don't spend much time with deaf people. I've been trying to make sense of that all week, and I'm stumped."

He could tell by the slump of her shoulders that she sighed. Then she smiled wryly and signed, "That's classified. What's wrong with finger spelling my name?"

"It's slow. And it's also kind of a cultural thing. You'll notice I don't spell mine, despite it being only three letters. You hang out with deaf people and someone will give you a namesign, though some people make up their own. But like self-nicknaming, it's considered weird."

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "Does your sign mean anything?"

"It's a combination of the 'Z' from my name and the sign for fish. Or it was. My family evolved it over he years and now it's it's own thing." He grinned at her. "You may have gathered I'm fond of water."

"I had noticed, yes." He strongly suspected she was blushing. "So you always liked to swim?"

"Apparently when I was a baby, I used to cry when taken _out_ of the bathtub."

"That's kind of adorable." A waiter came by with water and a basket of bread. Wanda waited until he was gone to add. "You should give me a namesign then, right?"

"If we're going to keep doing this, yes."

She sipped her water and pulled out a piece of bread, then paused to tell him, "I've never had a nick name," before buttering the bread.

"Namesigns are generally descriptive but sometimes odd. People will pick a memorable fact or prominent feature. Most people would make Dr. Newbury's about the scar."

"She would not appreciate that."

"I call her Dr. Superman."

Wanda laughed. "She would _definitely_ appreciate that."

"We do refer to Sgt. Barnes as Arm Husband. That one is Chuck's fault, though."

"Amanda would think it's funny. Who else do you have names for?"

He went through his list of people he and Chuck had named. Including the fact that they called Dr. Lee "Dr. Fucktard". 

She was still giggling over that one when the waiter came for their orders. Wanda signed while she gave them, which he appreciated. He didn't necessarily need to know she was ordering the steak with french fries and creamed spinach, but he liked that she thought to include him.

The waiter on the other hand, gave him one of those weird, pitying looks he sometimes got from people who thought any handicap meant you were also mentally disabled as well. He said something to Wanda that made her glare at him. When he walked away she flicked her fingers in his direction and he tripped, falling flat on his face.

Zev snorted in laughter. "Times like this I wish I could hear sound."

"There's a bit of mean spirited laughter," she admitted.

"You really are kind of a. . . wizard. Like the lady version of Merlin. Or Gandalf."

She looked like she might be giggling. "Are there girl wizards? What about Galadriel?"

"There are never girl wizards. I think the feminine version of 'wizard' is 'witch'. Which isn't the worlds most positive connotation. And Galadriel's powers aren't nearly as cool as yours. You should be up there with the real wizards. The ones with colors."

"The obvious choice would be red," she said, adding a gesture to her dress.

"There. Red Wizard. I've named you."

She replicated the sign a couple times, then nodded, grinning. "I like it."

When she smiled like that, he swore she lit up the whole room.


	5. Chapter 5

They walked around after dinner, ended up in an outdoor seating area of a park, where a busker had set up and was playing the violin. 

"He's really good," Zev commented.

She agreed, but she was surprised he had an opinion. She arched a brow at him and signed, "How can you tell?"

"Watching his hands. If we were closer, I'd probably be able to feel it."

If he knew about her mental powers she might be able to let him hear it. She'd be able to let him hear a lot of things, with some practice. She blew out a breath. The paperwork was being processed, she just needed to be patient.

Deciding she was okay with not being able to talk for a moment she reached over and took Zev's hand as the busker finished his song. She saw him smile, and he lifted his arm to wrap over her shoulder. He tucked her against his side, apparently content in the quiet.

Ithaca wasn't exactly stuffed with nightlife. They walked for a little while longer, but didn't find anything else to do as Wanda was in no mood for a club or bar. There was a non zero chance that they'd run into her brother on the prowl and that would be all new levels of awkward. So they made their way back to his car.

When they got back to the complex, he parked in the staff lot, in a spot that looked blocked from view of the houses by trees. The violin had put her in the mood for classical, so she's put some on the radio as they drove. He put his hand on the dash to feel it and smiled, which for some reason pleased her.

"You tripping the waiter was the highlight of my week," he told her once he'd parked.

It had been silly and a petty use of her powers, but the waiter had been rude and the trip hadn't hurt anyone. And apparently, it had delighted Zev. "I don't like rude people."

"We all fantasize about being able to punch the bullies."

"I suppose so. It's nice to be able to fight back."

The song on the radio changed, and he put his hand on the dash again for a moment. "You know the car is my favorite place to feel music?"

"Why?" she asked, watching him "listen" to the song.

"Turn it loud enough and the whole structure of the car picks up the vibrations. I can feel it in all my bones at the same time."

She studied him a moment more, then leaned over and turned the volume up, just shy of loud enough to hurt her ears. Then she flattened a hand on the dash and felt it vibrate. She closed her eyes, trying to feel it like he did. She felt his fingertips on her cheek, and then he kissed her.

There was a lot of heat in the kiss. As if he'd been saving it up the whole date. Possibly the whole day. She groaned a little, hoping he could feel the vibrations and know she was right there with him. She wrapped her arm around him, sinking into the kiss. The center console was in her way, but she arched over it to get as close as she could. She collected her powers while she still had some sense, finding the latch under the seat that would slide it back from the steering wheel.

It was a bit of a rough jerk, and he broke the kiss to look at her in surprise. But like the morning on the lake, he found her powers arousing. She wasn't trying to read him, but certain very basic emotions were impossible to ignore. Fear was the usual one. Lust, apparently, was the same.

She gave him a wicked grin, which made the lust spike even more, and leaned in to kiss him again. She'd unbuckled her seatbelt when they parked so it was easy to turn sideways in her seat. One knee hooked up on top of the center console in an attempt to get her closer and she shuddered when his hand dropped down to curl around it, holding her there.

He gave her knee a gentle tug, an invitation to climb over the console now that there was space. He wanted her to, but he didn't want to rush her. She let the kiss go on a little more, letting the pleasure and heat build up inside her a bit before taking that next step. She was a little drunk on it all, his lust turning her on as much as his kiss and hand.

When she felt like she needed to touch more of him or she'd go mad, she started to climb over the console. She was too distracted to trust her powers to help, but he wrapped an arm around her waist and soon she was straddling his lap.

He watched her a moment, his eyes searching her face. Then he cupped the back of her neck in his hand and pulled her back down. She moaned softly and could tell by the way his fingers flexed on her that he could tell. Pleased, she slid a hand down his back and tugged lightly at his shirt until it untucked from his slacks and she could touch the smooth skin of his back.

Zev took that as the invitation she'd intended, and she felt his other hand slide up her thigh under the hem of her dress. It felt very, very good, making anticipation tighten in her. Her power started to build and she had nowhere safe to send it, so she just tamped it down, focusing on him. She stroked his back, letting her fingers trail around his side to trace his abs. She heard his sharp intake of breath as she went on with her explorations. If his hand moving higher was retribution for that, she was all right with that. 

He untangled his other hand from her hair and traced the neckline of her dress. If they'd been anywhere other that somewhere semi-public, she'd be half-temped to take it off. He wished he could.

When she'd volunteered for enhancements, she hadn't really considered life after. And she certainly hadn't made much time to figure out what something like romantic relationship might be like. Mostly she'd worried a partner would be disturbed by her ability to read his mind. She hadn't really considered complimentary and arousing and intoxicating it would be to hear the thoughts of a man who wanted her.

It was probably pushing her farther than she had meant to go tonight. He didn't know everything about her and she should really stop before this went much further. She broke the kiss so she could take a deep breath and try to gather her scattering thoughts.

Then his hand shifted and his palm brushed against her breast, across her nipple where it pressed, taut and sensitive against her bra. She didn't even think it was intentional. But it made her arch into the touch and something in her mind snapped, releasing her pent up power. She had only enough presence of mind to focus it out, away from them.

It hit the car instead, windows shattering outwards in a spray of glass. Even the tempered windshield turned into overlapping spiderwebs of cracks, like someone had hit it with a hundred hammers.

She jumped, covering her ears at the noise. It wasn't loud, but something about the sound of breaking glass had always disturbed her. She stared at the glass a moment, shocked. "Oh my God," she whispered, forgetting to sign. Hell, she wasn't entirely sure it wasn’t in Sokovian.

He looked as stunned as she did. He turned his head slowly to take in the damage to his car, then looked back at her. She felt a small thread of fear from him.

Mortified and absolutely heartbroken that she'd managed to frighten him, she put a fist on her chest and moved it in circles, apologizing over and over, before fumbling for the door handle and half climbing, half falling out of the car.

He climbed out after her and caught her arm, trying to help her up. She shook him off, afraid to look at him—even though she knew that meant she was effectively ignoring him. She just couldn't.

She paused long enough to promise to pay for the damages and hoping her got the gist of it even without her facing him fully, then she started towards her house, fighting back tears.

He didn't follow her. She knew he could catch her if he wanted to, but then maybe he didn't want to. She couldn't hear his thoughts anymore, and by the time she reached the fence her much stronger link with her brother had taken over. Apparently he was home. And now worried.

She didn't want to walk to the gate, so she used her powers to rip a hole in the fence and close it behind her. It was messy and warped and she'd have to get facilities to fix it tomorrow. But it would do for the night.

By the time she emerged from the gap between the Rogers and Barnes houses, she could see Pietro on their porch. To his credit, he stayed there and waited for her to reach him instead of sprinting over and scooping her up.

"What did he do and who should I send to kill him?" he asked when she was standing under the porch light with him.

She shook her head sharply. "He didn't do - It was me. I don't want to talk about it."

"C'mere," he said, pulling her into a hug. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and cried into his chest. He rocked her a little, like when they'd been small and scared. "I'm sorry, Wanda."

"I frightened him," she whispered. "I didn't mean to, but I did."

He sighed, and she could feel his hurt, too. "Sometimes I'm so sorry we got ourselves into this."

The whole world would be a different place if they hadn't. But sometimes, she was sorry, too.

"Come inside. I'll make you tea. We can put some vodka in it."

She nodded and he put an arm around her shoulders, leading her into the house. "Thank you, Pietro," she said softly, leaning into him.

"Well. What are big brothers for?"

*

Zev texted Chuck, who called a tow truck and drove over. Complex Security had shown up before he got there, so Zev had to converse with them via notepad. He couldn't think of another explanation and her telekinetic abilities were not any sort of secret. He'd thought that would make it go faster, because it had been an accident and not vandalism or an attempted break in. But _now_ it was an incident involving an Avenger. Security freaked, checked their protocols, and insisted on getting Maria Hill out of bed.

Zev was _really_ not having a good night.

Hill seemed mildly impressed and very annoyed at being woken up for something that didn't involved a bad guy of any sort. She spent some time on the phone where Chuck couldn't hear, and when she was done with her conversation she said they could leave and that a check for the damages would be waiting for him at work on Monday. He also had the option of leaving the car with the their motor pool guys and borrow one until it was fixed. 

"I'll do that," he told Chuck. "Not having to explain this to a mechanic sounds great."

Hill made a couple more phone calls then told them to go to the motor pool and someone would meet them to give him keys, they'd deal with his car. Chuck helped him grab some books and his gym bag from the trunk and drove him across campus. The other man was practically vibrating with the desire for details, but managed to wait until they'd pulled in front of the hangar sized building to wait for their contact before asking, "Are you all right?"

He sighed. "I'm fine. I'm tired." And disappointed and sad and a whole bunch of other things. He couldn't get the look on her face before she'd lurched out of the car out of his mind.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

"Exactly what I told security, she accidentally shattered all my windows with her powers."

"What preceded this event?"

He glared at Chuck. "Guess."

Chuck's eyes widened and he looked out the windshield a moment. "Sounded like you guys didn't get a chance to talk about it." Zev didn't dignify that with a response. "I'm sorry, Zev."

"Yeah, well." He shoved his hands in his pockets, hoping Chuck would get the hint. Then he sighed and took them out again. "It was a really nice night. But she freaked out and ran off. Literally. I didn't chase her because when I picked her up two of the Avengers were following me with a sniper rifle. I can't shout after her and thought grabbing her might get me shot."

"Discretion is the better part of valor, and all that. Maybe after a day or two to cool off. . ." He didn't finish the sentence, obviously not really sure how.

"I really like her." He sighed. "You think I should try in a couple of days?"

"I do. You can't just leave it like this. You both deserve some closure, at the very least." Closure. Closure was very final. He found that unbearably depressing. They sat still for a while until Chuck poked him to get his attention. "You want to come crash at our place? Matt will make you pancakes in the morning."

One of the funny ironies of their circumstances was that Zev lived a grad student's lifestyle on his program stipend. Chuck was paid out of a trust his parents had set up for that express purpose, and at the moment earned way more than Zev. He and Matt had bought a nice house in Ithaca when Zev had come to Cornell. "No, but thank you."

An SUV pulled up next to them and a guy in sweats and a Stark Industries hat climbed out. He and Chuck chatted and ten minutes later Zev had the keys to a Lexus sedan and was on his way home.

He slept poorly that night, and ended up waking early. After a great deal of debate, and with a little bit of fear, he decided to go for his usual swim. He might get shot, or confronted by her brother. Or maybe she'd come to the dock, and they could talk. It was probably a fool's errand, but he really didn't know what else to do with himself, and some physical exertion would do him good.

He managed to avoid stopping every ten seconds to check out the dock, but it was a near thing. When he finished his lap he was disappointed to see she wasn't on the dock. But there was a folded white towel and a cup of coffee waiting for him. Both still warm.

He sat on the dock, wrapped in the towel and drinking his coffee, watching the house. All of the lights were off, and if she was watching from one of the windows he couldn't see. He thought about knocking, but she'd have been on the dock if she wanted to talk to him, wouldn't she?

He left the towel and the mug on the porch, but he was too chicken to knock. When he got back to the car, though, he did manage to dredge up the courage to send her a text. _Thanks for the coffee and the towel. I'm sorry about last night._

Sitting there staring at it didn't make her reply any quicker, so he drove home. When he got there he checked the phone and found a reply. _You don't have anything to apologize for._

He sat in the parking lot of his building and replied. _You were trying to stop and I wasn't paying attention._

The little dots that indicated she was replying popped up immediately, so he sat and waiting until it came through. _That wasn't why I broke the windows. I didn't want to stop, I was just trying to calm down a little bit before I did something like shatter all your windows. I'm sorry I scared you._

_Roller coasters aren't any fun without the adrenaline._ He didn't wait for a reply before adding, _I'm not afraid of you._

_You seemed scared last night._

_I was just startled is all. I didn't know what happened._

There was an almost worryingly long pause, then, _I'm sorry I ran off._

_You seemed pretty scared yourself._

_I was. Am. I wasn't born with my powers and I haven't been with someone since getting them._ He probably wasn't supposed to know that without clearance. _I'm very concerned about what will happen if we go beyond kissing._

He was, too, if he was honest. But that didn't mean he didn't want to find out. To try. _You didn't hurt me. I trust you not to._

_I really, really like you. I had a lot up fun last night, right up till that last thirty seconds or so. But I feel like I need a little time to try to get a handle on this. I don't want to cause any more damage._

That was not entirely unexpected. He sighed and leaned against the headrest, looking up at the top of the car for a few moments, figuring out his reply. _Okay. I really like you too. So. You know where I'll be._

_I'll try not to make you wait too long. I promise._

He wondered, when he finally put his phone away and went inside, if that was the last time he'd ever talk to her.

*

Hiding under her covers seemed like an excellent way to for Wanda to spend her weekend. She was ignoring her phone, because her friends were curious about her date and she didn't want to talk about it. 

But now Pietro was knocking on her door. "Sharon's downstairs. Don't make me throw her of the porch, she's pregnant."

"Did you tell her I didn't want to talk to anyone?" she asked, not bothering to peek out of the covers.

"She appears not to care."

"Tell her I'll make her pastry next week." Though, maybe moving on to the binging on sweets stage was a good idea.

"Wanda, get your ass out of bed or I will let her up here to yell at you in person."

She poked just enough to ensure he was serious. Then, grumbling, she unearthed herself, made sure she was more or less dressed and pulled the door open.

Their house, like any good Victorian house, had many parlors. Sharon was in one of them, with a box from Dunkin’ Donuts. "I brought sugar."

Yes, it was definitely bingeing time. Wanda walked over, accepted a chocolate frosted, and sank onto the love seat next to Sharon. "Thank you," she mumbled.

"I was worried. Then Maria called to ask if you were okay or I'd talked to you." Sharon took a donut of her own. "Apparently Security called her when he tried to bring a tow truck in for his car."

Wanda sighed deeply. "We were making out at the end of the date and I broke all the windows on his car."

Sharon winced. "Awkward." She chewed a moment. "Steve and I break a lot of things. The couch in Stark's bunker was probably the most embarrassing. The time I was so bruised Doc had to look at me was pretty bad, too. Though if you really want to talk about breaking things, you should talk to Jane."

The ladies like to talk about sex, though they had all been friends so long they mostly knew each other's stories. "It happens every time we kiss. I've rattled furniture, torn up grass. The windows. . . we didn't even have any clothing undone. I can't control it, other than try to send it away from him so I don't hurt him. If that's what I do when we kiss what am going to do when we make love?"

"Do it somewhere safe?"

Her shoulders slumped and she felt miserable. "I don't know if there is such a place." She took a bite of the her doughnut, hoping to find solace in sugar.

Sharon was quiet, then she said, "We have a padded room in the basement."

Wanda chewed, studying her, then said, "I am not borrowing your sex room."

"No, of course not. That's gross. But that's how we solved the problem of bruising and broken furniture. You've got a ton of rooms in this house. Pick one. Pad the walls, brace the ceiling, there we go."

The doorbell rang just then, and Wanda reached out just to sense the presence. Darcy was on her porch. "Can I let her in?" Pietro yelled. 

Wanda sighed, accepting the inevitable. _Yes,_ she told him, taking another bite of doughnut.

"I saw Sharon and the donuts," Darcy said from the doorway. "Plus you went all silent. That bad?"

"She blew up his car," Sharon said.

Darcy looked from one to the other, then asked, "On purpose?"

"No," Wanda said, chuckling. She liked Darcy and how direct she was. There was no artifice to her. As a telepath, Wanda appreciated that. "We were making out and it just. . . happened."

Darcy plopped into a chair and grabbed a doughnut. "Start at the top."

And so, Wanda spent the next half hour telling them about her date. About halfway through Darcy sent out a mass text to the other wives for an emergency meeting. Pepper and Jane were out of town, and one of Violet's kids had a fever, but Amanda and Nat made their way over. It was probably good they got the full story. Maybe their husbands would stop lurking in the turret when Zev was around.

"Okay," Nat asked finally. "What happens when you're alone?"

"I usually just rattle my nightstand or make the sheets flutter," Wanda said. If they were going to solve this she probably needed to accept she had no more secrets.

"Maybe it's like noise," Darcy said. "I think most people are quiet during their vibrator-based encounters, yet feel compelled to generate a lot of sound when with a man. And by compelled I mean cannot keep my mouth shut. Even if the guy wished I would." She waved a hand. "Before Cal."

Not that any of them had secrets to begin with.

"Some of it is also probably intensity," Nat offered. "The build up from foreplay causes your power to build up as well."

Wanda considered it. "I do remember it feeling very intense. He was very turned on it it. . . fed my emotions."

"And the emotions feed the power?" Sharon asked.

She nodded. "Any strong emotion, good or bad. I disintegrated a roomful of droids when I felt Pietro die at the battle in Sokovia."

"Did you hurt him?" Darcy asked. "Zev, when you went boom."

"No. No not at all. I scared him a little, though he said that was mostly because he wasn't really sure what had happened." She played with the frayed hem of her shirt. "He seemed to think I was upset that he was rushing me."

"Was he?" Amanda asked. There was a touch of mom-concern in her voice, but Wanda was okay with that.

She gave the question a moment's thought. "I was definitely feeling a little influence from his emotions, but that wasn't his fault. And I certainly didn't feel out of control or anything. I have no doubt that if I had said no he'd have stopped immediately."

"The first thing you probably need to do is be honest with him," Nat said. "About you."

"I'm not allowed until his clearance is approved."

"After that, then."

"The rest is just a logistics problem," Sharon said. "You need a safe space, and to be able to experiment slowly. Assuming he's up for that."

"The rest of us deal with physical strength," Amanda added. "It's pretty straightforward to tell your partner they're holding you too tight or pinching or something. But it is still the same principle. Learning where people's limits are and how far is too far."

"Maybe you could try to let it out in little bursts," Darcy said. "Instead of the build up."

Wanda tilted her head. "I was sort of bottling it up on purpose," she admitted. "I wanted to focus on him and what we were doing and not the power."

"The power is part of you," Nat said. "As much as anything else. You have to make it part of everything."

"I need to control it, though," Wanda protested. "In some way. I'm afraid of hurting someone. If there had been anyone outside the car I don't know what would have happened."

Nat reached over to pat her knee. "We'll start working on it in training. Try to find some focusing exercises."

"You could talk to James," suggested Amanda. "He has a lot of very useful breathing techniques."

"Clint, too" Nat said. "Though the purpose would totally weird him out."

"I'll look into logistics," Darcy said. "Of course, neither of them are here, but I know Violet's floors are reinforced with something strong enough to hold up the Hulk, and Jane has heavy duty steel braced furniture and industrial fixtures." She pulled out her phone to make notes. "Her shower enclosure is bullet proof glass."

"I can't wait to tell Pietro why I need to retrofit one of the spare rooms," Wanda said, but she was smiling, possibly for the first time all weekend.

"That's why we're here," Sharon said. "So we can all be strange together."


	6. Chapter 6

Wanda spent the next two and a half weeks working on a different kind of training. She did breathing and focusing techniques with Clint and Bucky. She had long talks with Thor about mindfulness and testing the edges of one's strength. Bruce took her for a long walk in the hills and taught her to meditate. And Nat took her out to an unused quarry and had her test the limits of her powers.

It helped. All of it helped. She took to sitting out on the dock, counting her breaths and finding different ways to let her power out without causing destruction. She was nowhere near mastering it. But it was progress. And that was good.

Zev still went swimming in the mornings, and though she never went out, she'd watch him sometimes from her windows. Then Maria sent her an email one afternoon. All it said was, "Clearance issued."

Feeling more nervous than she had in a very long time, the next day she warmed up a towel and took it out to the dock.

She watched him slice through the water on his way back to her. She felt his little start of surprise - and pleasure - when he saw her standing there. She concentrated on her breathing, keeping the towel warm. He pulled himself up onto the dock in one fluid motion. If she was honest, watching him get out of the water was probably the highlight of her morning.

"Good morning, Red Wizard," he signed to her with a smile.

It relaxed a little of the tension. "Good morning," she signed, offering him the towel. "Maria says your clearance is approved."

He wrapped himself in the towel and she could see him hunch into the warmth for a moment before asking, "Do I still need it?"

"I hope so?" She used facial expression and body language to make it a question, to show she was uncertain. "I've been working hard to find ways to focus my powers more. I've made progress. I thought maybe we should sit down and have a long talk. About all the things you don't know. And see where we want to go from there."

He smiled, and he nodded, and then he held out his hand. She slid her hand into his and stepped closer, tucking herself against his chest despite the damp towel and beads of water still on his skin. He wrapped is arms and the towel around her, tucking her against him. The whole thing seemed less frightening from here. He made her feel safe. 

She felt him press a gentle kiss into her hair and she sighed, tightening her arms around him a moment before stepping back. "You could come over tomorrow for dinner. I'll make sure Pietro makes himself scarce."

He nodded. "Six? Seven?"

"Six will be fine."

"I'll be here," he said. He grinned at her. "Thank you."

She wasn't entirely sure he'd be thanking her at the end, but she was glad he was so positive about the whole thing. "You're welcome. I'll see you tomorrow."

*

Zev appreciated Chuck's restraint when he mentioned they'd be leaving early the following day so he could have dinner with Wanda. It still didn't help Zev's nerves.

Whatever she was cooking, it smelled delicious even from the porch. And as far as he could tell, no one was lurking in cupolas with guns. She had left the door cracked open with a note saying "Come in." So he obeyed, closing the door behind him and following the delicious smells to the kitchen.

She was hovering over the stove, stirring one pot while going up on her toes to peer in the other. She waved at him over her shoulder to show she knew he was there.

He waved back and sat at the island, waiting for her to finish so they could talk. As she made trips from one part of the kitchen to the other she dropped off a glass of iced tea and some bruschetta for him to munch on. Eventually she dumped the stuff from both pans into a white baking dish, covered the concoction with cheese and slid it in the oven before turning to him and signing, "Okay, I'm yours for fifteen minutes."

"I would imagine that's not long enough for your life story."

"Not really, no." She smiled. "How was your day?"

"We were in the lab today. Dr. Fucktard was there. You know he addresses everything exclusively to Chuck?"

She rolled her eyes. "At least he doesn't think if he talks loud and slow enough you'll magically start hearing."

"Oh, the shouters. They're fun. Also: people who try to make up their own sign language." He grinned. "Nothing brightens the day like spontaneous charades."

"People do it sometimes when they hear my accent. I am clearly speaking English to you, you do not need to start making random hand gestures to help me out."

He laughed. "I didn't know you had an accent."

She had been about to pick up a piece of bruschetta and stopped halfway to look at him. Then she laughed as well. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. My brother and I both have accents."

"Sign language has accents," he commented. "That surprises people, but it does. I can generally tell where some is from, and whether they can hear or not—at least, whether they learned to speak first." It occurred to him, as he said it, that Wanda didn't have one. Or well, she did. It was just identical to his. The speed and hand shapes of a native New Yorker. She signed exactly the way his family did.

Some of that realization might have shown on his face. Or maybe she just remembered something she needed to do for dinner, because she turned away to check the oven and start opening cabinets.

He helped her set the round kitchen table and brought over both their drinks while she tossed a salad together and took dinner out. It was a cheesy concoction of noodles, vegetables and tomato that smelled heavenly.

"Violet makes it," Wanda explained as they sat. "Says it's the only way to get her kids to eat vegetables."

"Smells like comfort food."

She glanced down at her plate. "Thought that might be needed."

"I am harder to scare away than I think you think I am."

That got him a small smile. "It's also not easy for me to talk about."

"Eat up, then. And we'll get the hard stuff out of the way."

They ate in silence as the setting sun turned the lake out back pink and gold. They chatted a little in between bites, about her brother and other goings on in the lab. He noticed that, while she played with her fork a lot, she didn't actually eat much. She must be more nervous than he'd thought. She conceded defeat when he declared himself done and they left their dirty dishes in the sink and she led him to a cozy little den lined with bookshelves with a view of the lake and woods.

"Do you want any wine?" she asked him before they got settled.

"No, but if you do, please, go ahead."

She seemed to consider it a moment, then apparently decided against it, sinking into an overstuffed armchair and curling her legs up underneath her. "I'm going to try to start at the beginning," she told him. "But if you have questions or something isn't clear feel free to interrupt."

He reached out to squeeze her hand, then let it go. "Okay."

With a deep sigh, she started in to her story. "My parents were killed by a bomb when Pietro and I were ten. It destroyed our home. We were trapped in the rubble for days with an unexploded bomb, waiting for it to finally go off and a little afraid it wouldn't. It was a Stark Industries bomb." She paused slightly, glancing out the window, then her hands started moving again. "We went to an orphanage after that. I believe the term Darcy used when I told her about it was 'Dickensian.' Over crowded, bureaucratic. No affection, no care beyond the basic necessities. Pietro and I ran away a lot, until we were old enough for them to stop looking for us. We were lucky, I suppose, that we had each other. Most had no one. We were angry. We hadn't really processed the loss of our parents. We blamed Stark for killing them while we watched him become some sort of hero on television. It felt like some sort of awful joke. So when we heard about a group that was promising to make people stronger and better we volunteered."

"Much like Captain Rogers."

She smiled. "He made the same comparison, actually. And much like him, there were other volunteers but Pietro and I were the only successes. It was. . . painful. I had migraines, there were days I couldn't speak or even open my eyes. They kept us in small cells where they could observe us. Looking back, it was inhumane but we were on a mission. We had a purpose." She paused and took a deep breath despite the fact she wasn't speaking. "The telekinesis was not the only power I got."

A number of small things suddenly clicked into place. "You can read minds."

She nodded slowly. "I know ASL because I took the knowledge out of your head the day we met."

He blinked, not sure what he thought about that. Someone taking knowledge out of his head. On the other hand, it had been very helpful and he was very happy they could talk like this. "That explains quite a number of things." He hesitated. "So you hear everything I think?"

"No, no. Not everything. To get anything more than immediate strong emotions or loud thoughts I have to go hunting. Which I never do without permission." She bit her lip. "Except, occasionally, to pick up a language to make everyone's life easier. But language is sort of. . . self contained knowledge, I don't really have to dig to get it."

"Could you? Could I hear you?"

She looked visibly surprised, but nodded her fist in the affirmative. "Pietro and I can speak telepathically. I haven't tried with anyone else but it should be possible."

"I could see how it would be helpful. I try not to turn down any opportunity for a new means of communication."

"Would you like me to pause my tragic backstory to give it a try?" she asked with a little smile.

He grinned. "Yes. Yes I would."

Uncurling from the chair, she leaned forward and made a graceful little gesture with her fingers. It was very different from the ones she used for the telekinesis, more sinuous and fluid. Nothing seemed to happen and a little furrow appeared between her brows. "I've only ever done it with Pietro. Give me a moment."

They sat for a few moments, and she made other little gestures. He was about to tell her they could try another time when she frowned, leaned forward and kissed him, cupping his face in her hands. Before he could react he felt a voice in his head, clear and loud as his own thoughts, _Hello, Zev._

He had never, in his entire life, had anything in his head but himself. He was deaf at birth and could only theorize what sound was like. He tended to think by the sight of printed words and by hand shapes—how they looked and how they felt. 

But _she_ knew what sounds were like. They gave structure to her thoughts. And so now it was almost like there were sounds in his. It was the most amazing thing he'd ever experienced.

They were even still kissing. He pulled her a little closer, but tried not to let it get out of control. He had no idea if she would understand him, but he tried, _Is that your voice?_.

She jumped a little and he felt her smile against his mouth. _Yes, it is. And I suppose that's what yours would sound like._

_This is amazing._ He was absolutely awed. 

She broke the kiss and rested her forehead on his. _Thank you._

_Why are you thanking me? You. . . Wanda, I've never experienced sound before._

_I have a part of myself people need security clearance for because there's a good chance the government would want to lock me up. And when I told you about it you weren't horrified or scared. And I can actually HELP you using it._ She kissed him again. _Hell yes, I'm thanking you._

_Maybe we just fit._

_I think we do._ He sank his hand into her hair as their kisses got a little deeper and more intense. She ended up in his lap, tucked into his chair with him, a warm solid weight.

Abruptly, she lifted her head and took a few deep breaths. _Okay. We should probably talk about this._

Having her in his head felt _extremely_ intimate, so it didn't surprise him when she slid back to her own chair. Tried to, anyway. It had slid backwards and hit the wall. She winced and brushed at the dent in the plaster. Zev went back to signing once she'd dragged it back in place and sat. "I have been wondering, since that first day in the kitchen, how you have sex without blowing up your house."

Her cheeks pinked kind of adorably. "I haven't had sex with another person since I got my powers. My. . . solo activities have far less impact than what I do with you. I've actually spent a good portion of the last couple weeks working on this problem."

That was quite the mental picture. Then he found himself blushing. "Can you hear _all_ my thoughts?"

"Only when I'm looking. Or if they're particularly loud or we're . . ." The blush got deeper and he wondered what she was thinking. "Tangled up."

He chuckled. "I'm a little scared of what you might be hearing while you're in my lap."

"It's very complimentary," she told him, reaching out to poke him with a toe. "It's actually part of the problem, I think. My powers are closely tied to emotion and when you and I get together there's a lot of emotion. Yours and mine."

He tilted his head. "I cannot deny that."

"Without getting into too much detail, breaking things during sex seems to be a common superhero problem. So the girls and I have put our heads together and come up with two solutions. Training for me and a safe room for us to experiment in."

"Well. . . that sounds like fun." She slipped out of her chair and stood, holding a hand out to him. He took it and she lead him out of the den up the grand staircase to the second floor. There, she opened a door to reveal a second, narrower stairwell, which she also lead him up. _Pietro has been making crazy woman in the attic jokes,_ she told him.

_I was prepared for it to be in, like, the old coal cellar in the basement._ Talking to her like this seemed to only work if they were touching, but he liked it.

_There was concern of earthquakes,_ she explained. There was an odd combination of pride and shyness swirling around the words.

The second staircase led them to a short hallway with three doors. She opened the one on the far wall to reveal a good sized room with windows on two sides. The floor was heavily padded, with blankets and pillows stacked in one corner. There was no furniture in the room and on closer inspection the windows weren't made of normal glass and the walls had a slight padding to them as well. He looked up. _You brace the roof joists?_

_Yes. And walls and floor, of course. The window glass is the kind they use in submarines._

He tugged on her hand and pulled her close, swaying them a little like they were dancing. _I am very flattered by the effort._

She draped her arms over his shoulders, moving around the room with him. _We're going to have to be patient. Figure out where my limits are._

He kissed her, very gently. _I think you're worth the wait._

_Thank you._ She smiled, eyes dark. _I think we'll have fun along the way, too._

_When do we start?_

Her fingers twined through his hair at the base of his neck. _I did kick Pietro out for the whole night._

He felt his breathing speed up. _Are you sure?_

She shivered a little and her arms tightened on him. _Absolutely._

*

Wanda used a rush of power to close the door behind her as Zev leaned in to kiss her. She wanted to try Darcy's suggestion of letting it out consistently rather than letting it build up. The door ended up slamming with a little too much force, but it served its purpose and let her sink into his arms, engaged fully in the kiss.

_You relax when you let it out._

_It feels like a release. Like a weight's been lifted._

His hands slid down her back, finding the hem of her shirt—then he was touching her skin. _So just keep letting it out. We'll go as slow as we have to._

Skin-on-skin caused a reaction in both of them. She pressed a little closer to him, letting another wave of power out. There was an odd, muffled _fwhump_ noise as it hit the wall, but there was no damage. The house didn't even rattle. She relaxed further and deepened the kiss. Focusing enough to send him a proper thought would tense her up again, so she gave him an. . . impression of taking her shirt off.

It worked—but then, he did see the world very visually. As he tugged her shirt up, she got the sense from him that he had trouble forming words while he was doing something with his hands. Perhaps because it was impossible for him to speak without his hands, and so it was like trying to talk and listen at the same time. But it was all right, impressions worked fine. He wanted her to do the same.

She slid her hands under his shirt and tugged it up and off. She sent it flying over her shoulder with her power, then flattened her palms on his chest. It was not the first time she'd seen him shirtless, or even touched him. It was the first time she was shirtless as well, with his hands on her. She counted through her breaths the way Bucky and Clint had showed her, focusing on the feel of his skin under her hands, the lean muscle beneath it. Concentrating on him and not her helped.

His hands were still on her back, and he touched the back clasp of her bra. She felt a question. She nodded, sending enthusiastic agreement, and felt the hooks give. The bra slithered down her arms, dropping to the floor. He tightened his grip, hands flat on her back and her breasts pressed against his chest. The sensation shot through her, but he just held her while she sorted the surge of power out.

Breathe. Hold for seven. Let it out. Repeat. She felt her hair ruffle a little as she released the build up.

When she felt steady she gestured at the pile of cushions. _Sit?_

_Should we put them in the middle?_

That was a good idea. He really was brilliant. _Kiss me again and I'll give my powers something to do._

He grinned, and cupped her face in his hands. It was a kiss like the one in the car, full of heat and desire and promise. The kind that shot through her and made her ache.

She moaned into his mouth, wrapping her arms around him so her breasts pressed against his chest. Pleasure that was both hers and his poured through her and she let it out, drawing the pillows and duvets towards them, into a pile in the center of the room.

Moving in sync without either of them saying a word, they slowly kneeled, lowering themselves to the soft little nest. He sifted his fingers through her hair, spreading it out on the pillow beneath her head. He though she was beautiful. Men had said it before, but it was something else to _feel_ it. To see herself through his eyes.

Her skin heated under his gaze. To distract herself, she trailed a hand along his arm. _I wish you could experience this like I do._

He watched her. _What do you mean?_

_I keep getting these. . . impressions from you. What you're feeling and thinking. It's very intense. Intimate._

He bent his head to kiss across her collarbone. _It feels like that when your thoughts are in my head. When you send them._

She closed her eyes, so she could thoroughly enjoy the feel of his lips on her skin. She soaked in the pleasure, the growing lust and heat. And then she tried to mirror it back to him, to open herself up to him. She felt it hit him, and circle back, wrapping them in emotions she couldn't even describe. It consumed the surge of power, so that he could cup her breast in his warm hand and rub his thumb over the nipple, without anything exploding. 

The nipple tightened and she gasped, tipping her head back. She was hot, and achy, drowning in both their feelings. His mouth closed around the peak and she felt like she was coming out of her skin. Her back bowed and she cried out loud. For once her reaction was entirely physical.

He lifted his head—not in alarm, just checking if anything cool had happened. Apparently, he'd think building damage was cool. She shook her head and signed at him, "It's like you want me to break something."

He grinned. "It's not my house."

She laughed and stretched up to kiss him, letting her hands roam him. There really wasn't an ounce of fat on him anywhere. She didn't consider herself particularly shallow, and she was surrounded by extremely fit and attractive men all the time. But honestly, he was delicious.

Somewhere along the way she'd partially sat up and he had dragged her into his lap, so she was straddling one of his thighs. She broke the kiss to watch his face as she slid a hand down his stomach and cradle the hard bulge hiding in his jeans. He sucked in a breath, and she felt the wave of lust slam into her, strong enough it felt like a touch. He pulled her back down to kiss her again. I hope we blow the roof off.

She wondered if she could use her powers to rip the rest of their clothes off. Maybe some other night. For now, she rocked herself against his thigh in and effort to relieve some of the ache growing between her legs. She tugged at the fly of his pants. _Can I?_

_There's no way you don't know the answer to that question._

_It seemed polite to ask,_ she told him, snapping the buttons of his fly open and hooking her fingers into his belt loops to tug the jeans down.

_Yours?_ His head was rather fuzzy, so it didn't surprise her he was down to one word sentences.

She didn't want to stop touching him, but he _really_ wanted to get her pants off. So she nodded eagerly and leaned back so he could reach the fastening of her pants. 

He took a slow breath, letting her go once he'd gotten them undone. "You're tensing again. Lift up, use your power."

It was possible he just wanted to watch her lift herself. But she was starting to feel a build up again. So she did as he asked, letting go with enough force to get herself several inches off the floor. He grinned, and slid her jeans down her legs. He trailed his fingers over her skin as he did so, all the way down. She shivered and nearly lost her balance. Then he ran his hands back up her legs, this time on the inside.

She gasped and dropped back onto the pillows with a thump. His touch was light but it seared her skin. She felt his satisfaction and pride. His hands skimmed up her inner thighs, higher and higher until he touched her sex. It was almost too much, just that. 

Breathe. Count. Don't let it build up. She opened the flood gates on her powers and the pillows and blankets that weren't pinned between them began to lift up. She tried to focus on Zev, reaching out to touch what she could reach, gripping at his arm.

He stroked her carefully, slowly, like she was precious and made of glass. _It's okay,_ he told her when he was still for a moment. _Take it slow._

Slow sounded like both a good idea and absolute torture. His fingers started to move again, gliding against her clit with light, barely-there pressure. Wanda spread her legs wider, wanting more. The pillows that had been hovering in the air around them started to move, swirling around them as if caught in a tornado.

She heard him make a sound of astonishment, but it was not a bad sound. Nothing about anything he thought or felt right now was negative. He was. . . enthralled with her.

When his fingers sank into her, she read the intent before he did it, and lifted up in anticipation. His thumb pressed her clit and her whole body shuddered. The vortex above them picked up enough speed the wind began to lift her hair.

God, she was close. She wanted this so bad. Wanted it work, to prove they could be together like this. She was well beyond words or thought, could only send him her desperation and need. In response, he stroked her deeper, giving her more.

She tossed her head back, hips bucking up to him. And then it all came to a head and snapped. Crying out his name, she clenched around his fingers, body shaking with the force of her orgasm. The pillow tornado exploded outward,cushions slamming into the walls.

The explosion sent up a cloud of feathers, and as they sunk into the pillows beneath them, her sprawled on his chest, they rained down on them slowly like snow. Wanda wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his shoulder, breathing hard, slightly stunned.

He rubbed her back in slow, gentle circles. He was stunned himself. Awed, impressed, proud and turned on. Maybe a little worried about her, but all the emotions were good. _Roof still on._

_Maybe next time._ She stroked her hand across his stomach. _I neglected you._

He shuddered, and she could feel him struggle to form words. _You were busy._

She lifted her head and kissed him, fingers curling around his erection. Neither of them were capable of communicating, but words weren't actually needed. She stroked him, adjusting her technique based on the flickers and waves of emotion he gave off. He relaxed into her touch, and there was something heady about the surrender. The feather storm stirred.

Breaking the kiss, she lowered her head to trail her lips along the line of his neck. She kissed a line down his chest, inhaling his scent. Her list of lovers wasn't particularly epic. There was only so much one could do with a hovering twin brother. She was lucky that her experiences were by and large positive. Though at the moment she couldn't recall any of them being quite as good as what she shared with Zev.

He realized what she was about when she kissed his hip, so she wasted no more time in taking him in her mouth. He groaned, his fingers digging into her hair, just a little painfully. The connection between them seemed to open more, and she could feel his pleasure just as if it were her own.

It was rather surreal, feeling as though another climax was building inside her as she stroked and sucked on him. He released her hair, stroking her shoulder and back. She dug her fingers into his hip, changing her pace as she felt him get closer to release. When it hit him, echoes of it poured through her and she shuddered, feathers swirling around them like a shaken snow globe.

He gave her a little tug to come up and lay on his chest. His head didn't make a lot of sense at the moment. The only word she got clearly was _magic_. She curled against his chest, drained and shuddering with aftershocks of her pleasure. With what power she had left she dragged a duvet over on top of them. She had thought to dress and stagger down to her room. But maybe they could just sleep here.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's late! I moved on Saturday and I swear this is the first time I've had a computer, internet, free time and a functioning brain since.

Sleeping up there sounded temping to Zev, but the sun was still up, so they napped and drifted for a while. They were covered in feathers.

_We'll probably need to shower,_ he sent to her when she stirred.

She nuzzled at his shoulder. _You've adapted to telepathy with remarkable ease._

_I have always wanted to try pillow talk._

She shook a little in his arms and he heard a noise in his head he realized had to be laughter. Or, more probably, giggling. _Do you think we can be trusted in a shower? Though I doubt I could muster much by way of destruction right now._

_If you guess wrong about that we could cause a flood._ She was seeing the same mental picture he was, of the toilet flying off the stack and sailing out the window, fire hydrant jet of water behind it.

Apparently, there was something _particularly_ funny to her about damaging bathroom fixtures in a sex incident, because she progressed to full-scale laughter. She actually rolled off him. They were both sweaty—it was very warm in the attic—and more feathers stuck everywhere.

When she calmed she sat up and shook her head sharply, shedding feathers out of her hair. She plucked one off her shoulder and blew on it, sending it drifting off before turning to him and signing, "So we'll be going through a lot of pillows, I think."

He grinned at her. He would buy every damn pillow in New York State. "We could try other materials."   
"I don't know that torn up memory foam will be as whimsical as the feathers."

"It is a little romantic, isn't it." He picked more off his skin. "Or, at least, when they were airborne."

"Like a snow storm," she agreed. She surveyed the damage a moment before looking back at him. "Thank you."

"It's not necessary." He leaned over to kiss her. "And it's mutual."

_I know._ She was also very comfortable with the telepathy. _But you made it easier. Warning me when I was tense and making suggestions. It helped._

He laced their fingers together. _I want us to work._

_Me too. Pillow carnage aside, I think this went rather well._

He kissed her knuckles. _I've met a woman who can come from giving a blow job, and I can't tell anyone. That's really kind of terrible._

She laughed again. _The telekinesis is common knowledge. You can tell people I cause tornadoes when I come._

_That's pretty impressive._ She came closer and they kissed again, letting it get a little more out of control than they intended. But they were still naked and tangled up on the floor. He stroked her skin, enjoying being able to touch her. She was relaxed, arching a little into his hands. When he lifted his head, the dusting of feathers on the floor had been gathered up into piles.

_Giving it a purpose seems to help,_ she said, resting her chin on his shoulder. _We may need some sort of sacrificial pillows just to give it something to do._

_We'll get creative._ He plucked a feather out of her hair. _I was thinking we could go for a swim in the lake._

An image of them skinny dipping and making out flickered into his head. _I’d like that._

_We should at least put our underwear on. You have neighbors._

_The stories I've heard they deserve any eyeful they get. But I concede your point._ She glanced around and flicked a hand out to bring their clothes to them. _Shall we?_

They were still covered in feathers and trailed them all over on their way out. She stopped at a closet to grab two towels and then they went out on the dock. It was still muggy outside despite the sinking sun, and the lake was a refreshing shock of cold when he dove in.

He surfaced in time to get splashed by her dive. She surfaced a moment later, hair slicked back from her face and trailing in the water. Her bra had gone all but translucent in the water, nipples poking prominently against the cotton. "Are you staying the night?" she asked him.

"Do you want me to?"

"I would. You might have weird dreams, though."

"Will we share them?"

"Maybe? I haven't been in the same bed as someone. People near me just tend to have strange dreams. They see parts of mine or have old, weird dreams dug up. We stayed with Clint and Nat for a couple weeks when we first joined the team and Nat ended up remembering things from her childhood she'd forgotten."

"I would guess I have a lot less scary things lurking in my memory than Natasha Romanov."

"I didn't see them, but she didn't seem upset. I think they were pre-scary KGB brainwashing."

"I'm willing to stay. Weird dreams and all."

She smiled brilliantly and glided through the water so she could kiss him. She held on to him while he treaded water. _I want to touch you,_ he told her. _But I'm afraid of starting a tsunami_.

Laughter in his head again. _Maybe someday. When we know how far we can push it._

They stayed into the lake until it started to get dark, and then they got out and dried off on the dock. They went up into the house and she got it into her head to make cookies in her damp, semi transparent underwear.

He had no idea how she was going to get cookie dough off the 12 foot ceilings, but that wasn't really his problem.

Wanda was sprawled on the tile floor with her head on his stomach, eating the remnants of the dough out of the mixing bowl with a finger. _Between this and the feathers I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do when Pietro comes home._

He was not even remotely sorry. _You were baiting me._

_I was just making cookies. You were the one that lifted me onto the counter._

Idly, he wrapped her hair around his hand. _You were delicious. I regret nothing._

She sighed and turned her head to kiss his stomach. _I'll make you cookies some other time._

_Sexy Time beats Cookie Time for any guy over 13, I promise you._

Setting the mixing bowl aside, she rolled onto her stomach to look at him. _So. Now what?_

_Now we really need showers. I think there's egg in my hair._ The carton had still been on the counter. There were probably eggs all over the walls, too. The flour and sugar, thankfully, were in heavy airtight containers, and had not become part of the tornado. That would have been quite the mess.

She stretched up to kiss him lightly, then started to get to her feet. "Shower sounds good. We could watch a movie or something after."

"Oh, like a normal date. Just backwards."

"Is that what happens on normal dates?"

"So people tell me." He stood up and surveyed the mess for a moment, then looked back at her. "Separate showers."

"Yes, we can compete with Jane and Thor another night." She tossed some paper towels on top of the broken eggs and started towards the stairs.

Two showers later they were in the dark in her room, flipping through the massive video library Stark made available to all of the residents. He was pleased to find them very well closed-captioned. Most streaming services were hit or miss, and shoddy at that. But then, that was Stark.

She had a big heavy antique wood bed with sheer red curtains draped around it. Her room was very her, bright colors, delicate art glass and antiques. He could see why should wouldn't want to experiment in here. They had both made a point of getting fully dressed after their showers, though Zev wasn't looking forward to sleeping in his jeans. Wanda was in flannel pants and a tank top. When he slipped his fingers under the tank to rub her back the bed curtains had fluttered and he'd felt a surge of pleasure through their bond, but otherwise they'd both behaved.

About halfway through the sci fi movie he'd felt her breathing slow and even out. By the big, effects heavy fight at the end she was fast asleep on his shoulder, one arm and leg curled around him.

He had the odd urge to protect her, but from what he had no idea. Anything that might hurt her, perhaps. He sighed and kissed the top of her head. The only thing he was sure of is that this might be the best date he'd ever had.

The next couple of weeks were filled with equally enjoyable ones. They were both busy and she made it clear she didn't want to distract him from his work, which saved him a potentially awkward conversation. But they found time for dinners or lunches together, as well as a couple of trips into town to try out a new restaurant or wander a book store or antique shop. Sometimes she found something really old and could tell him a bit of its history, just by holding it, claiming that strong memories lingered. She said wood and metal held them the best, cloth the worst. It was a fascinating idea, one he wished they had the time and means to properly study. Suggesting it seemed a little too close to the government labs she worried about, so he didn't broach the topic.

They did do quite a lot of experimenting up in the attic. Foam pillows did hold up better than the feathers, which was good because she did do better with something in the room for her powers to react with. They tried it once with nothing in the room but them and she made the house shudder when he went down on her. A pillow tornado was far safer. They took it slow, avoiding actual sex while they worked out the kinks, so to speak. He grew better at learning her cues, knowing when to pull back and let her breathe and when it was okay to push a little and make her let it out. By the end of the month they could kiss in public without fear of property damage.

One Wednesday she found him in the lab just before lunch break. She was in her workout clothes, pink cheeked and damp, and deliberately wrapped herself around him for a kiss before leaning back a little to sign, "Hello handsome," for Chuck's sake.

He could feel himself grinning stupidly. Chuck would tease him later. "To what do I owe the surprise?"

"I wish to extend an invitation. Next Sunday is my birthday, Pietro and I have decided we want to have a party."

He raised his eyebrows. "And meet your people?"

She nodded while signing, "Yes. It will be mostly just the team. And you. It's your choice to bring Chuck or not, I'm happy to translate."

"I don't want to make you translate on your birthday." He paused. "Besides, some of them are going to have some things they want to say that are not for your ears, and the sooner we get that out of the way, the sooner we can all move on." Chuck was grinning. He reached to touch her. _Plus, Chuck is dying to meet the Avengers. Dying._

That made her laugh a little. _Should I ask Tony to buzz the group in the suit for him?_

_It would probably make his day if you got Captain Rogers to take his shirt off._

_I can probably rope Sharon into helping with that._ She leaned in to kiss him, to cover how long they'd been silent, then signed after she leaned back, "So I expect you both on Sunday at noon. Barbecue on the lawn."

"I'll make him be on time," Chuck signed before Zev could answer.

"Thank you," she said out loud and in sign. "I'll ask the boys to come unarmed."

"I can handle them," Zev replied.

"I have every faith in you." She kissed him again. "I better go. Are you coming over tonight?"

He sighed. "Only if you want to spend a couple hours watching me type."

She shrugged. "You could if you want. I promise not to distract you. But I understand if it's easier at home."

"It's nicer at your place. I'll come over."

"Yay!" That with a little happy dance. She wrapped her arms around him to steal another kiss. _I'll see you later, then._

When she was gone, he looked over at Chuck, who was grinning like an idiot. "Be careful or your face will get stuck like that."

"I will be eternally grateful to you for this. Whatever happens, I am your man _for life_."

"There are things that could happen that would mean you'd be hanging out with the Avengers on a semi-regular basis, you know." It was probably too early to hope those things happened. But he did anyway.

Impossibly, Chuck's grin got wider. "Oh, it's like that, is it?"

He was too happy to care about teasing. "Yes. Yes it is."

That was enough to get Chuck to hug him with embarrassing enthusiasm. "I'm so happy for you."

Zev patted his back in a manly fashion. When they parted, he said, "Thank you. It's early, but. . ." He shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels different." He couldn't possibly explain it, because Chuck didn't have the clearance to know about the telepathy. It made the connection between them much more intense than it probably would be at this point. But he knew she felt it too, so he didn't worry about it. They were probably going to need to _get_ clearance for Chuck soon, though.

"It's good," Chuck said. "You guys do that comfortable silence thing together. It's important." He tilted his head. "What are you going to get her for her birthday?"

"Oh, God. I have no clue."

"I see we'll be busy after work this week."

*

Wanda and Pietro hadn't had a proper birthday party since they'd turned ten. He'd gotten a bike, her a scooter. Their mother had spent the night before baking two cakes because they couldn't agree what flavor. It was a clear, purely happy memory, one she had gone back to again and again in the dark years that followed.

When she walked out on the lawn Sunday morning it occurred to her this party might top it.

There were streamers and banners strung around the picnic area. Bucky and Steve had the barbecue fired up, waiting for the coals to cool enough to put the meat on. Violet, Sharon, and Amanda were setting up a table with side dishes and drinks. Bruce, Pepper and the Bennets were entertaining the kids on the play structure in an effort to keep them out from underfoot.

Pietro appeared beside her as she headed towards the lawn. "This may have gotten out of hand."

"I think it's wonderful," Wanda said. "Our family likes to party."

Stark came over with party hats. "I'm going to need you to wear these."

"You first," Pietro said immediately.

"It's not my birthday." He held them out. Wanda's looked like a princess tiara, with rhinestones. 

She grinned and took it, setting it on her head. "Thank you, Tony."

"Do you wear them on your birthday?" Pietro asked him.

He made an incredulous face. "Of course."  "Live a little, brother," Wanda told him, taking his crown from Tony and putting it on Pietro's head, snapping the elastic deliberately.

"I think Americans call this hazing?"

"It's the price you pay for cake," Tony told him.

"Two cakes," Amanda said, coming over with cups of lemonade. "Nat's been slaving over them."

"She's baking them herself?" Wanda felt particularly touched by that.

Amanda nodded. "She says she likes baking. It calms her. So the rest of us did the meats and sides and left her to it."

Pietro nudged her. "Your boyfriend is here." He pointed, and she saw Zev, clear on the other side of the lawn. He was having a conversation in ASL with Clint. Chuck was a few feet behind, trying and failing at subtlety while taking pictures with his phone.

"Take me over," she ordered Pietro. For a second he made a face like he might refuse, but she glared at him and he scooped her up and ran. A heartbeat later he was putting her down next to Zev.

They both started, as from their perspective she and Pietro had just appeared out of thin air. Zev grinned at her. "Hi."

"Hi." She reached out and hugged him, feeling their connection snap into place. _Should we warn Chuck that Bucky breaks paparazzi cameras?_

_He'll learn his lesson if he needs it._ He kissed her temple, and waved hello to Pietro. _Happy Birthday,_ he told her. He then signed it behind her back at Pietro, which Clint then helpfully repeated. The receptive echo in her mind made her giggle.

She glanced over at Clint. "I didn't know you knew ASL."

"I know a lot of things." He grinned at her. "Interrogations are most effective in the target's native language."

"Well that's very handy."

Pietro groaned. "She's making puns. I'm leaving." He blurred away and Wanda stepped back so she could sign to Zev.

"You want me to introduce you around?"

He nodded. He leaned back and signed, "Time to work," at Chuck. Then he reached out and shook Clint's hand. Apparently they'd reached some sort of accord, though lord knew what about.

Clint gave her a thumbs up behind Zev's back as they walked away and she shook her head, despite smiling. She slid her hand into Zev's as they walked towards the group by the grill. _One down?_

He laced their fingers together. _I'm sure they're all very nice._

_Well, I like them._

They reached the barbecue where Steve and Bucky were discussing whether or not the coals were ready with a vitriol that only men who had known each other their entire lives could manage. They went silent when she approached. 

Well, time to rip of the Band Aid. "Steve, Bucky, this is my boyfriend Zev. Zev this is Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes."

Bucky's eyes narrowed. Steve reached over and smacked him on the back of the head. "Knock it off." He held out a hand. "Welcome."

Zev shook it, and Wanda added, "This is Chuck, Zev's interpreter. Or he will be when he regains the power of speech." She could see being three feet from Captain America had thrown Chuck for a loop.

"He's not even the one I was trying to intimidate," Bucky said, offering Zev his hand.

Wanda sighed and started signing for Zev until Chuck rejoined them. "He's having a fan moment. I think he's awed by Steve's beauty."

Bucky tapped Steve's arm. "Flex for the man, Steven."

Steve rolled his eyes, and asked, "Would you like a picture?" Chuck fumbled for his phone, and Steve said, "No, no, a real one." He waved and Sharon came over, her fancy camera and its long lens strung around her neck and perched on her baby bump like it was a shelf. She was still the most adorable pregnant woman ever. 

"Hi," she said. "I'm Sharon Rogers. We're trying not to all rush you at once."

Wanda translated for her, then did introductions. "This is Zev's interpreter, Chuck. He's a fan and Steve said he could have a picture."

Chuck managed to contain himself long enough to get a couple shots and give Sharon his email address. Wanda leaned her chin on Zev's shoulder. _Well, his life is now complete._

_He'll be cool eventually,_ Zev promised. Across from them Sharon lifted her camera and snapped a photo.

Well, a copy of that was going on her night stand. She kissed Zev's cheek.

Amanda came over and slid an arm around Bucky's waist. "Is everyone being nice to one of my favorite grad students. I will be displeased if not."

"I was a gentleman," Bucky said, kissing her.

Steve did not snitch on him. 

"We're making the rounds," Wanda said, "But we'll be back for burgers."

"I can come along for more pictures," Sharon offered.

Wanda grinned at her and Sharon joined their little group as they made their way over to the playground. Bruce was quite and polite as always. Pepper was warm and welcoming. And Darcy and Cal were funny and blissfully normal. It all seemed to snap Chuck out of star struck fugue, so she didn't have to be on interpreter duty anymore.

Jane ask Zev about his research, and then there was science talking going on. Thor had gone out for ice, so Wanda just kind of loitered until Darcy came to rescue her.

"You have that dorky besotted face on," she said. "It's adorable."

Wanda grinned. "It's a very good birthday."

"Wait until you see your cake."

She looked around the group, at Zev deep in conversation with Jane and Bruce, and had a moment of gratitude. "This is perfect, even without cake." Darcy gave her a horrified look and Wanda laughed. "Not that I won't eat it if handed cake."

"So how's the sex tornado going?" Yep, that was Darcy.

Still, it was actually nice to have someone to talk to about it. "Better, actually. I'm focusing much better. Kissing doesn't set it off anymore, we need actual under the clothes touching before I get dangerous."

"And you still haven't actually. . .?"

"No." Zev had been an absolute angel about going at her own pace. She was caught between desperately wanting to take the last step and being terrified it will make her powers go haywire. "I was thinking of giving it a try today but I don't know. It might be too much pressure."

"We make an occasion for birthday nookie. The celebrant gets their choice of activities." She tilted her head. "Within our established practices, anyway. Just something to make it festive." 

Darcy and Cal had a very healthy sex life. Wanda didn't even need to be a telepath to know it. "I suppose it would make the night memorable no matter how it goes." She squinted at her house. "He's sort of hoping I blow the roof off."

"I talk a lot. I can't help it." She looked over at Wanda. "I mean, sometimes it's just sexy utterances. Sometimes I feel compelled to narrate it like we're on a National Geographic special or something. I've had lovers find it weird. My hope was that I'd meet someone who tolerated it. Cal _likes_ it."

Wanda was going to try very hard not to think about that later tonight. "Does he talk back?" she heard herself ask.

"Eh, he's working on it. My point is, everyone has some weird kink or habit - sexual or not - that they hate or find awkward. Finding someone who actually likes it? Maybe even finds it sexy? That's jackpot right there."

Darcy had a way of putting things into words very succinctly. "I did spend the first few. . . sessions afraid I was going to shock and horrify him. Instead, he started learning how to tell when I need to let power out and coaxes me through it. It's helped bring us closer."

"You should embrace that. Do what works. Nobody's in your bedroom but the two of you. It's complete freedom."

"It is nice to be able to let it out," Wanda said thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is past time we take the next step."

"And hey-- roofs can be fixed."

"I feel like Bucky and Clint wouldn't know whether to be impressed or horrified."

There was a rumble in the distance, and then Thor and Vision landed in the middle of the grass, carrying four giant bags of ice. Over by Zev, Chuck stopped mid sentence and turned to stare. "Oh, dear, we broke him again." Darcy laughed as Wanda went back to Zev's side. "Hi, we're the Avengers, we send Norse gods and nigh-omnipotent androids on ice runs."

"Come on," Zev signed to Chuck. "I'll introduce you." Zev had met Thor a week or two ago when he happened to be on his way in as she and Zev were on their way out. Since they were next door, he came over. Polite and friendly as anything, with Mjolnir casually propped on his shoulder.

"I'm fairly certain I'm dreaming all this," Chuck told him as they went to greet the newcomers.

"The store gave us the ice for free!" Thor announced, clearly pleased with himself. "We did pose for some photographs."

"And that's why we send them," Wanda said.

"Happy birthday," Thor told her, wrapping her in a hug.

"Thank you," she squeaked. It was a very enthusiastic hug.

"Did I miss the cake?"

"No. I haven't even seen it yet." He set her down gently. "You remember Zev. This is Chuck, his interpreter. This is Thor and Vision."

"Pleasure to meet you both," Vision said politely.

Pietro zipped by. "Hi, all. Cake’s inbound." He looked at Wanda. "Mine has more frosting."

"It's not a competition." But he was already gone. She made a face and looked at Zev. "I'm turning twenty eight. I think he's turning twelve."

"You know I'm 27. You're robbing the cradle."

"By a few months. Bucky and Amanda have sixty years."

"That's pocket change," Thor said. "I am more than twenty times over older than Jane."

"See?" Wanda told Zev. "We don't even merit a mention."

She could see Nat and Clint carrying cakes down their front steps. Zev slid his arm around her waist. _Shall we go blow out candles?_

_Are you going to help me?_ she asked.

_You have ten seconds to get out of my head before I subject you to inappropriate smutty thoughts._

_Later,_ she teased, with a wink. Then she released him to join the crowd gathering at the picnic table.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG there's so many boxes to unpack. . .

Pietro's cake was chocolate on chocolate on chocolate, with his name written out in blue frosting. Hers was feather light angel cake with strawberries and custard, with whipped cream. She hugged Nat fiercely. "They're perfect."

"Thank you and you're welcome." Nat understood, better than most, how much it meant to mimic traditional family rituals. To feel normal, and like you belong.

"Neil!" someone yelled from behind her, and when Wanda turned, Bruce's little boy had stuck his fist into Pietro's cake and mashed it into his face while his mother was trying to light the candles. 

God bless her brother, he just hoisted the kid up onto his hip and said, "Thought about doing the same thing, kid." Neil responded by offering him a handful of smushed cake.

Violet finished the candles. "Right, blow them out quick before something else happens."

"Make a wish," Ada, Neil's big sister, reminded her.  
 Wanda glanced at Zev and winked again. Seemed weird to use her birthday wish about something sexy, but currently all she wanted was for their evening activities to go without a hitch.

She and Pietro leaned over the cakes and - with Neil's help - blew out all the candles on both cakes.

Her brother's wish was disturbingly similar to hers. She really wished he'd thought that quieter. Apparently he was particularly fond of his current coed-of-the-month. He had been thinking about her an awful lot lately.

Everyone cheered and Nat handed her a huge piece of strawberry cake. It was as delicious as it looked. She fed Zev a bite of her cake and felt about as peaceful and relaxed as she had in who knew how long. She was just. . . happy.

The train of thought was probably the hubris that ruined her party.

Barely halfway through the cake several phone alerts when off at once. Maria and Steve immediately put down their plates and stalked off to the side, pulling their phones out. The rest of them that knew what such actions usually preceded started wolfing their food down at record speed.

"What's happening?" Zev asked.

"Mission alert," Wanda signed before trying to shove the last third of her cake in her mouth at once. "Steve and Maria are figuring out timing and parameters."

"In the middle of your party?"

"Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn't care about my birthday." She glanced over at Steve and Maria. "It may be something small, that only needs a couple people. Or it can wait till tomorrow. But Steve is anxious, so I'm guessing it's big."

"That's handy," he told her. He squinted at the two of them. _I would guess a subject that he finds personally distressing, but does not elevate to actually involving anyone he knows or cares about._

"There are, unfortunately, a lot of things that covers."

Steve walked back to the group. "I'm really sorry to do this," he said, mostly to her and Pietro. "But we need to mobilize."

"Who's going?" Nat asked. The team was now so large and varied that usually only a small team needed to be sent, depending on the problem. Some combination Nat and Clint and the soldiers, possibly with Thor, Tony or Vision as air support was the most common.

"Everyone." Steve sounded grim. People immediately began putting down plates. Bucky closed the cover on the grill. "We have a hostage situation in the mid-east. A girls school has been invaded by the Ten Rings. Local authorities have them penned in, but the've got arc technology, stuff no one's seen before. We need all hands, Hulk included. Say goodbye, gear up and meet at the airstrip in-" He checked his watch. "Forty minutes."

Pietro turned around. "Stark? I think it's time to test that body armor."

He came over to them, Ruby slung over one shoulder while he tried to put her shoe back on. "It's not officially ready for deployment."

"Yeah, but hostages? You know I'll be in there. Better than nothing." Development of body armor that was light, flexible, and aerodynamic enough to be of use to her brother had been a long running effort of Team Science. 

Tony nodded and handed Ruby to Pepper and he and Pietro headed off to the labs to get the latest prototype. Wanda wasn't thrilled with her brother going into a fire fight in untested armor, but she had other, immediate, issues right now.

"I have to go get changed," she told Zev. 

"Of course, of course." He glanced uncertainly at the crowd. "I suppose I should go."

"You're welcome to stay at my place," she offered. "But I don't know how long I'll be."

Pepper seemed to have picked up on them trying to say goodbye and stepped over. "If Zev wants to stay he's welcome. This food needs to be eaten and we won't talk about anything his interpreter can't hear."

Wanda passed that on to Zev. "They will get the most up-to-the-minute news about what we're doing," she added.

"I'd like that. If it wouldn't be too weird."

"You're more than welcome," Violet said, wiping Neil's face futilely.

"We have so many questions," Darcy added.

Well, that was a little ominous, but in general she figured he was in good hands. Wanda kissed him lightly. _I'm going to go change. I'll come say goodbye before heading to the jet._

She could feel him fight the urge to pick her up and squeeze her. He was worried, she could probably feel it without him touching her. _I'll be here._

She tried to smile reassuringly before jogging back to her house and up to her room. Some of them kept their equipment at home, others in the armory. Wanda preferred to keep it close, to make getting ready more streamlined. Besides, she didn't have any complicated gear. No suits or bows or batons. She wore the armored tac gear similar to Natasha and Sharon's, with a sports bra and tank beneath it. The armor was very dark red, not black, because Stark had noticed she had a favorite color and liked to make his people look pretty.

After zipping herself into the armor she sat at her vanity to braid her hair and mentally pep talk herself. Everything would be fine. They would go and do their thing and she'd come back and pick up where she'd left off with Zev. There was no reason to think she'd get killed just because she was planning on having sex with him tonight. Life was not a cliched 80s action movie.

Still, she hurried back out to the lawn to say a proper goodbye.

When she got down there, he and Chuck were helping clean up from the party. He must have seen her in his peripheral vision, because he turned. He grinned at her—apparently, he liked the tac gear.

He met her halfway so they could have a little privacy. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into the curve of his shoulder. _I'll see you soon._

_Be safe. Save some power for me._

Laughing, she promised, _I absolutely will._ She leaned back and kissed him deeply, digging a hand into his hair. He groaned and sank into the kiss. There was the usual pleasure mixed in with the expected worry. But underneath that, he was proud of her.

She let herself get lost in the kiss until someone whistled for her attention. Then she sighed and leaned back. _Have fun. Don't let them overwhelm you. If Chuck needs to stay over you know where the guest room is._

He kissed the top of her head, and she heard him think about smacking her on the ass, but decided not with this audience. She waved to Chuck and the others and ran off to meet the Bartons where they were waiting for her at the carts.

"The girls will take care of him," Clint told her.

"That's what I'm afraid of," she said, swinging into the back seat.

*

Zev sighed, watching Wanda drive off. Well, he could go back to the party clean up and then figure out what to do next. He did kind of want to stay and wait.

Chuck was waiting for him when he made his way back. "It'll be okay."

"This is her job." He would just repeat that until it worked.

"And she seems to be pretty good at it."

Violet came over to them. He'd only met her today as he was around in the evenings when she was busy with her kids, but Wanda had told him only good things. While her relationship with the rest of the team was more sibling, Violet was very clearly Team Mom. Something he suspected Wanda and Pietro needed desperately. Right now she was smiling warmly and looked about two minutes from hugging him and wrapping him up in a blanket with some cocoa. "We're bringing everything to my place so the kids can run around and we can have some down time."

"Can I carry something?" Before she could reply, he rephrased. "Give me an occupation."

She tilted her head. "That was almost an Austen quote, did Wanda tell you my weakness for literature knowledge?"

"No, but I will file that away," he replied with a grin.

"Yes, you can carry something. Grab a tray of food and follow me."

It occupied a good hour, hauling stuff across the green and cleaning up everything. He and Chuck did most of the heavy lifting after Darcy ordered Cal to stop. He and Wanda had gone to dinner with the two of them last week. Thanks to a severe injury and a long hospitalization, Cal knew more about medical things than you'd expect, and was interested in Zev's cartilage research. 

Finally, they were sitting around Violet's remarkably tidy, comfortable living room with drinks and the leftovers from the party. The kids were in a toy covered room down the hall, within shrieking range. "I'd like to tell you you get used to it," Violet said, handing Zev and Chuck cool glasses of iced tea. "But none of us have."

"We do make a thing of it," Pepper said. "Helps distract us, get everyone out of their head."

"I really appreciate you inviting me," Zev said. "I realize it must be weird that I'm here."

"No, we like you," Darcy, reaching across Cal to serve herself some macaroni salad. "Always nice to have fresh blood."

"In that case, I will do my best to be entertaining."

"We will try to keep Darcy from asking sex questions," Jane assured him. 

"Prudes. You're all prudes."

He laughed. "Such questions are better posed at Wanda."

"Oh, don't worry." She pointed her fork at him. "Props for being cool about the tornado thing. Seriously, it takes a certain kind of person to date a superhero."

He swore he could feel himself blushing. Particularly because Chuck added an inquisitive, "Tornado?" at the end. He'd told Chuck they'd found a way to direct her powers, but not the exact details. So he now had to briefly explain the pillow tornado to Chuck. 

"Well," he said to Darcy. "I'm not exactly normal myself."

"Everyone has something odd about them," Jane said. "Even if it's just a tendency to discuss worm holes over birthday cake."

"It tends to get us bonding quickly." Sharon had an entire container of fruit salad balanced on her baby bump. "The particular challenges of dating an Avenger."

"You're all married, though, aren't you?"

"I'm not," Pepper said. "Technically." She nodded at Violet. "And neither is she." It amused him that they both had babies on their knee—one toddler-ish and reasonably new—that they were bouncing in virtual unison.

"I believe Bruce is working up to it but is doing his paralyzed by the idea of moving forward thing," Violet said with a smile. "I am patient. He's not going anywhere."

"Tony and I decided the ceremony would be a circus and the paperwork a nightmare. We figure we're stuck with each other in any case. At this point nobody else would put up with either of us."

Darcy tipped her head back to look at Pepper. "I feel like even if you tried to dump Stark he wouldn't accept it. Like he'd just keep showing up and acting like you were a couple until you gave up or forgot you'd broken up or something."

She laughed. "Undoubtedly. I honestly don't think he could function. We've grown into each other. Like two trees planted too close together."

Her daughter began wiggle to be put down. "Mama, all done. I go play now, please?"

Pepper set Ruby down and she went bolting to the playroom across the hall. She watched her go, then said, "FRIDAY, monitor on." The TV to Zev's left lit up with a display of the playroom.

He glanced at the monitor. Ada was bringing her blocks. "Your daughter's speech seems rather. . .advanced."

"She's a Stark. We actually taught her some sign language as a baby because she was so frustrated with her inability to communicate."

"I did the same with Ada," Violet said. "She was actually very excited that you used it. She remembers some of it and wanted to practice." She kissed the top of her baby's head. "Probably do it for this one, too."

"My mother is deaf," Chuck said, and Zev watched them all start at the different voice coming out of his mouth. Chuck used different ones for when he was speaking for Zev than for himself. "My ASL was fully fluent quite a while before my English."

"That is the best way to have a bilingual child," Violet said. "Starting early. How long have you been interpreting for Zev?"

"Seven years. Before that I did interpretation in a hospital."

"I needed medical terminology," Zev added. "My previous interpreter couldn't handle it."

"Okay, the two voice thing is tripping me out, dude," Darcy said. She stole some of Sharon's fruit. "I wasn't sure if we were allowed to talk to Chuck or not. Like maybe it was like how you shouldn't pet someone's seeing-eye dog."

Zev laughed out loud. "I'm going to get you a vest."

"I look great in orange," Chuck told him. "I could make it work."

Sharon was now defending her fruit with her fork. "Cal says you're building cartilage? Do you think it'll see the light of day in time for me to use it?"

"You got bad knees?"

"I will someday."

"Sharon gets hurt a lot," Pepper explained. "It's a bit of a joke."

"Honestly? I don't know if it will ever go anywhere at all. It's just student research for my Ph.D."

Darcy had managed to steal another hunk of fruit. Zev was pretty sure this was a game now. "Amanda wrote a thesis paper when she was younger than you and now she's got a study with, like, a hundred people in it."

"Not to mention the original eight, still going strong." Pepper looked very proud of what Stark money had done. "Don't underestimate how far ideas can go around here."

He shrugged. "I am only here for the summer."

They all exchanged glances for a moment. Then Darcy said, "What's the sign for nepotism?" and Jane hit her on the back of the head.

"How much longer do you have in school?" Violet asked brightly.

"Three years. One more for my Ph.D, and then two more the the MD."

They next hour or so was typical "getting to know your SOs parents" talk. His family, hopes for the future. No one actually asked him what his intentions were but he imagined that was pretty obvious. Pepper and Violet got up a few times to check on the kids and Sharon got a few phone calls.. Ada came out and practiced signing with Zev and Chuck, which was actually kind of fun.

Sharon came in from the other room and announced, "They've landed and gone dark."

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means the mission has begun and we won't be able to contact them until they're finished."

"I wish we could just listen in to their comms," Jane said. "Sharon says they're hilarious."

"There's snark," Darcy confirmed. "I don't think Tony can go more than a minute or two without being sarcastic."

"If they knew everyone was listening, it wouldn't be as funny," Sharon said.

"Easy for you to say, you get to go sometimes," Pepper told her.

She patted her baby bump. "Not for the foreseeable. And it's not as much fun as you think. Watching the person you love throw himself into an astounding amount of danger isn't much better than waiting here for news."

"It sucks no matter what," Jane said with a sigh.

"Hence the vigil," Zev said.

"We've found it's easier if done together. Burdens shared and all that."

"You stay up until they're safe?" he asked.

"We try to," Violet said. "Sometimes not all of us make it. And if it's something that will take multiple nights we take shifts. But something like this will be over fairly soon."

"There's a lot of coffee, bad movies and board games," Sharon added.

"Have you ever played Cards Against Humanity?" Darcy asked with a grin.


	9. Chapter 9

_Classified Location_

After landing outside of town, they had been met by local military to get a more detailed debrief on the current situation at the school. A team of at least a dozen Ten Rings members had taken about fifty students and eight teachers hostage. The students were aged eight to seventeen and so far they were reporting no major casualties. The ring leader hadn't asked for any specific demands. Thought was that this was some sort of statement or possibly a trial run of their new tech gone somewhat south.

It was decided that the more flamboyant team members would go at the front gates and get the terrorists’ attention. The others would take the opportunity to flank the building and infiltrate from behind, hopefully clearing out the hostages and any remaining guards without bloodshed.

"I am pleased to see this country remains as jacked up as the last time I was here."

Apparently, SHIELD had had previous encounters in this location.

"Nonsense, honey," Nat replied to Clint. "Last time it was run by a tin pot dictator with delusions of grandeur. _Now_ it suffers under the iron fist of an insane terrorist organization with delusions of world power. Totally different thing."

"Unseat a crappy dictator, only to have him end up replaced with something much worse," Steve muttered. "Sounds brilliant."

"Sounds like the cornerstone of American Foreign Policy," Pietro said.

"In our defense, he was more 'fiddle while Rome burns' bad than merely crappy."

"Natasha," Tony said slowly. "Did you have a coup without us?"

"I think that's still classified."

"Mr. Barton and Ms. Romanov were sent on a mission to stage the death of said dictator and make it look like he was taken out by his own people during rioting at the time. SHIELD files describe it as a typical Strike Team Delta mission, with no additional notes."

"Vision," Tony said, "You really don't have to Mr-and-Mrs everyone."

"I know. I do it because it annoys you."

"Then you should know I'm officially Mrs. Barton now."

"Oh, did you do the paperwork and everything?" Amanda asked. "That was such a pain in the ass."

"Try doing it when you don't technically have a social security number."

"I'm still going to call you Romanov for clarity," Steve said. He was very particular about what he called people in the field. Sharon had told Wanda once that it was how he compartmentalized, how he could lead people he loved. She thought it was strange, but it was how he was. If they took Sharon with them, he called her Carter. All of the humans were by last name or their call sign. Except her and Pietro, which seemed to annoy Steve. They needed to come up with something, lest Stark decide to make something up.

They had split up a few blocks from the school. Pietro had run ahead to scout a good entrance, so Wanda followed Nat and Clint through the back alleys, Amanda bringing up the rear. Steve and the others were waiting on their signal to show themselves at the front gates.

"I have two guards in the back," Pietro reported. "There's a back door. How far out are you? I can start punching."

"Two minutes," Nat said. "Cap?"

"We're ready when you are. Pietro wait for the others to get there. I don't want anyone looking out the window and seeing their guards down."

"But hurry," Bruce added. "If Tony doesn't get to fly around and snark soon he'll burst."

"I liked you better when the Hulk tossed your earpiece," he grumbled in reply.

They came up an alley, the school in sight. _I see you_ , Wanda sent to her brother.

"They're here, Cap," he reported.

"Right. Stark. Go get their attention."

"Yay!" Heavy metal started blaring over the comm and Wanda saw Nat roll her eyes.

She watched Pietro's blur take the guards out as they crept up the alley. It was the sort of thing Clint would usually do from a distance, but these days on missions they tried to explore what she and her brother were capable of, and Clint had recommended he do this. Pietro was very excited, though he was really trying to play it cool.

When both guards were down Clint and Nat went forward to tie their hands. Wanda and Amanda met Pietro at the door. "It's locked," he said.

Wanda put her hand on the rough wood and let her sixth sense stretch out into the building. "There's one more guard on the floor. The hostages are upstairs, in two rooms."

"Be careful," Nat said, now at her side. "They'll be scared."

She nodded and prepared herself to pull back. "There are three men with them. The rest are in front."

Wanda had a new trick she'd been dying to try in the field. She'd done it on a couple of her more adventurous teammates as a test, and on her patient brother multiple times. "Cap?" Wanda asked. "Can I put the guard to bed?"

"If you can do it without him sending up an alarm."

"What they hell did you do that to gun?" Stark asked incredulously. "And stop holding it fucking sideways! When it explodes you're going to blind your damn self.

Wanda shook her head and sank into the mind of the hallway guard as Clint silently picked the lock. She dug around a moment, then found the guard's favorite memory and wrapped him up in it, making it real. Then she gave Clint a nod and he opened the door.

The guard was in there in the hallway, sitting on the ground and staring into space, smiling. "That's creepy," Nat whispered.

"What did you do?" Amanda asked, tiptoeing past him. 

"His father is teaching him to carve wood," Wanda explained. "As he did when he was a boy."

"I don't think I want to think of our opponents as having been children," Pietro said.

"Easier to kill robot clones, isn't it?" Clint asked.

Wanda didn't comment as they crept down the hall to the stairs. She knew a great deal about the people they fought. Hopes, dreams, memories, fears. One of the guards upstairs was currently worried about something. Loud and strong enough that she stopped in her tracks to listen.

The others turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" Nat asked.

She held up a finger, trying to follow the man's train of thought. "Something's not right."

"Did I miss the part of the briefing where there was a part of this that _was_ right?" Tony never missed an opening.

"Stark, shut up," Steve said. "Wanda, what are you seeing?"

"One of them is worried." She tried to block out the rest of them, focusing on the one man. He had a girlfriend, she was pregnant. He wasn't going to see her again. Because of the basement. 

She was already turned to go back down the stairs. "There's something in the basement. Get the hostages, now."

Her brother whooshed by her, carrying Nat on the way up and two hostages on the way back— she thought, anyway. Steve asked, "Something like a bomb?"

"Yes," she said succinctly. "Very soon."

"I knew hostages without demands was a bad sign," Stark muttered.

"Okay, subtlety's done. I want hostages ferried by those who can survive it going off. Thor, Vision. And Stark or Rhodey, flip a coin--I still need someone out front. Bruce?"

"Code green?" he asked mildly. Wanda found the door to the basement - more of a root cellar, really - and clicked on the dim light, heading down.

"Yes," Steve was saying. "The rest of you inside, grab somebody if you can, but get out _right_ now. Wanda, do you know where in the basement it is?"

"Southwest corner, next to the boiler." She crouched to inspect the mess of wires. "I'm looking at it."

"What?" Steve sounded first, but there was a chorus of them, followed by four or five people yelling at her simultaneously. She sent a very firm, _Hostages,_ at her brother just to head him coming to grab her off at the pass.

"Everyone shut up," Nat said sharply, effectively silencing the line. "Wanda, you have a plan?"

She studied the bomb carefully, then checked her watch. It didn't have a big red timer on it like it did in the movies, but she had gleaned enough from the terrorists to know it was going off at seven am. Which was under a minute away. There wasn't enough time to get everyone out. There might not even be time to get the team out.

Inexplicably, an image of Zev swimming came to her and just as suddenly, she had a plan. She straightened, put her hands out and built a bubble around the bomb, the way she did around his towels to keep them warm. "We'll find out in about twenty seconds."

They were talking, but she needed to concentrate so she tuned them out. She heard the Hulk roar, and then the bomb went off.

The bubble shook, but held, filled now with a tremendous amount of energy that needed to go. . . somewhere. It took concentration, but she felt her containment was stable. "Once the building is clear I need someone to come get me," she said. "I have a field around it but it needs to be released someplace safe."

"Pietro, get her up here. Wanda, do you need to be in contact with it?"

"Safer if I am. Get us into the open and maybe Stark or Hulk can throw it somewhere?"

Pietro appeared beside her, and stared at the bomb for a moment, making impressed face at her. "Cap, it's not going to fit through the door."

"Southwest corner. Someone go make a hole." He paused. "Without destabilizing the building."

They stood there, waiting. Wanda fiddled with the bubble, expanding it a little to ease some of the pressure. She was about to ask if someone was waiting to get architectural permits when the wall to her left cracked and part of it ripped off to reveal the Hulk. She couldn't help the little squeak of surprise.

Pietro stepped close and scooped her up. She crooked her fingers, mentally sinking them into the bubble and he darted her out into the courtyard, bomb dragging behind them.

Stark landed next to them and scanned the bomb. "Holy shit, you're holding—holy shit. This'll take out half the block if she lets go."

"Don't let go," Pietro said.

"Yes, thank you." She could feel a headache starting to grow in the back of her eyes. "Not to rush you all-"

"Nearest body of water?" Stark asked FRIDAY.

"There's two lakes within ten kilometers," she replied. "Neither's very deep. To be safe you'll need to get to the Gulf."

Vision joined them, landing next to Stark. "We go up. I take it, you take her, we fly in opposite directions until it goes boom."

Stark nodded. "Better idea." Without another word he scooped Wanda up and took off, Vision right behind them with the explosion in his hands.

"I get carried a lot," she commented. "It's becoming a trend."

"Maybe we should work on your levitating next," Nat said in the comm.

It was probably wrong that her first thought was that Zev would find her actually flying very hot.

"This should be high enough," Vision said. They weren't even as high as they'd been on the floating island in Sokovia. 

"I'll warn you if I feel it going," she told him. The android nodded and took off in one direction. She wrapped an arm around Stark's neck as he shot off.

"He's made out of vibranium," Stark told her. "He'll be fine."

"Seems polite to give him a-" She felt an odd sensation, as if the inside of her head had been snapped by a rubber band. " _Now_." An instant later there was a distant boom.

There was silence on the comm, and then Stark's tentative, "Vision?"

"Still alive. I've made an impact crater in a local park."

"How is your comm not blown out?" Clint asked from down below.

"It's wired directly into my brain," he replied cheerfully.

"Don't get ideas," Wanda told Stark as they turned around to rejoin the group. Her powers tended to short out electricity when pushed to their limits. She went through a lot of earpieces.

Steve had his arms cross when she was put down in front of him. "That was as impressive as the train."

She smiled. "Thank you. I've been training." If it was anyone but Steve she'd have made a joke about practicing with Zev, but refrained. Her brother was standing right there.

"I heard about the sex tornado." Stark did not refrain. "She puts your breaking things to shame, Cap."

Pietro put his hands over his ears with a sigh. Amanda handed him a granola bar and patted his back gently.

"Are we good here?" Nat asked.

"Bruce and I will need a little time for triage and hand off to locals," Amanda said. 

"Otherwise, yes," Steve said. He looked at Wanda. "Though you and I need to talk."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No. But that was very dangerous."

Before Wanda could reply, Bucky came over the comm. "If you're going to lecture her, and not also lecture Pietro, Stark, and Vision, I wish to remind you of the mission in Greece."

"When did we go to Greece?" Stark asked.

"It was during the War," Steve said with a sigh. "Can we please—"

"He tried to scold Peggy for doing something admittedly very dangerous that we all did," Bucky went on. "You remember how well she took that?"

Steve sighed again. "She made me sleep outside."

"In his underwear," Bucky added cheerfully.

Steve tilted his head back and looked at the sky, muttering, "In my underwear."

Stark was staring at Steve. Wanda couldn't see his face but she swore his mask looked delighted. "Barnes," he said finally, sounding awed. "I have never been more happy to have you on the team than I am at this moment."

Amanda piped up. "That was way more effective than Nat and I going defensive girl power on him, thank you."

Steve was still looking at the sky and Wanda decided to drive one last nail in. "Next time do you want me to give you first dibs on doing the dangerous thing?"

"You are kind of stealing his schtick," Bruce added over the comm. Obviously he was no longer green.

"All right, all right. Point taken." He held up a finger. "However. In my defense. A) I was not aware bomb containment was in your skill set. B) You didn't tell us you were going down there until you were standing over it."

That was actually a good point. She considered a moment. "He was thinking about the basement so I started walking towards it. Reading minds isn't like reading a book. Sometimes I have to dig. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. It's like. . . when you're trying to think of something on the tip of your tongue. I have to chase it. So I started down there while I poked hoping it would help me shake it out. I was already halfway down the stairs by the time you said to get out."

"Okay," he said. "We can make that part of the protocols. Handling that."

"That's fair," she agreed.

"Where did you figure out the bubble trick?" Nat asked.

Wanda shrugged. "I bring Zev a towel when he swims. I put a bubble around it to keep it warm from the dryer."

"That is very adorable," Amanda said. 

"They're like a rom-com," Nat said. "One of us should have a relationship not born of drama and mortal peril."

"The first half of my life was depressing Oscar bait. I'm quite happy with my rom-com boyfriend, thank you."

"I think we're good to go over here," Amanda said. "Anybody else?"

"We're good here," Steve said.

"Barton and I need sleep before flying home," Stark said. "Locals have offered to put us up for the night," "The US military can also give us somewhere to crash at the Air Base in Kuwait." He paused. "Or I can have FRIDAY book us rooms in my favorite hotel in Dubai."

There was a moment of silence on the comm, then Amanda said, "I'm old, I vote for the hotel."

"I can't believe that was a question for any of you," Stark muttered.

"What time is it back home?" Bruce asked. "Anybody call them yet?"

"Midnight-ish," Steve said. "They'll be up. Most of them. I'll notify."

*

They took a break from Cards Against Humanity just before midnight. Ostensibly to get a snack, but at least partially because Darcy was obscenely good at it. Operative word being obscene. Zev hadn't know a person could turn the shades of red Jane had reached.

In the middle of their snack and bathroom break Sharon suddenly put down her cereal bowl full of ice cream and pulled out her phone. "Mission's over. No injuries. They're bunking down in Dubai so the pilots can rest. Coming home tomorrow."

"Oh good," Cal said. "Now we can go home." He paused, and yawned. "Also, yay they're no dead."

"You mind if I crash in your guest room?" Pepper asked Violet. "I don't want to move Ruby." The kids and crashed and been tucked in hours ago.

"You're always welcome," she said easily. She looked over at Zev and Chuck. "Do you two need anything before heading over to the twin's house? You know where the spare sheets are and such?"

He'd thought about going home, but it was so late now that crashing in Wanda's bed sounded wonderful. He hadn't realized just how worried he was until the tension had drained. "We're all right, thanks. And thanks for the company."

"You're welcome anytime," she told him and there seemed to be a chorus of agreement from the other women.

Sharon held her phone out. "You want to give me your number? I can text you when I have a landing time. And put you on the alert list for future missions."

He signed, "Thank you," to her and put his number in her phone. He made the rounds of goodbyes, and then he and Chuck hiked across the grass. 

"You can go home if you want to," he told Chuck. "It's only midnight."

"You're sure? What about the morning? Are you going to stick around till she comes home?"

"I have the notepad. And actually FRIDAY can put things on a terminal. I may go take advantage of the empty lab."

He didn't look convinced, but he nodded. "Then I'm sure Matt will be happy to see me for breakfast."

"I know it's weird," Zev said. "I just. . . want to be here."

"I understand. Well, sort of. I could tell you were worried tonight. I'd want to be close, if I were you."

He nodded. "I'll see you Monday, then?"

"Call me if you need me before that." They parted at Wanda's front door, but not before Chuck stopped and hugged him. "Hang in there."

He smiled and shrugged. "This is probably something I should get used to."

"Like dating a soldier. Or a cop."

"I think she's worth a little worry."

Chuck grinned. "Good. Sleep well. See you Monday." He waved, heading across the lawn towards the parking pad.


	10. Chapter 10

Zev spent most of the next day camped out in her library with his laptop, working on his dissertation. He scrounged up food for himself and cleaned the kitchen. Nobody wanted to come home to a messy house after a mission. Mid-afternoon, Sharon texted him that the Avengers were airborne, and that they'd be landing by 11PM that night.

The last few hours waiting were the worst. He tried to concentrate on his dissertation again, but only managed to eke out a couple of paragraphs. He spent some time out watching the sun set on the lake, ate some dinner, tried to read. Then it was ten thirty and the ladies came by to head to the air strip to meet the plane.

He felt a little silly standing on something called The Wife Line. He could converse with the women via text message if he wanted, but it was a little awkward, so they kept it barebones. He always felt a little off-center in a group of hearing people without Chuck. That probably wasn't helping his sense of unease. Would she find it weird he'd stuck around this whole time? He couldn't exactly ask the other women.

The vibrations of the jet passing, then landing didn't help either. It put down only a few yards away from them, the back gate opening a few minutes later. The team slowly tromped down the ramp.

Wanda was the third or fourth off. She was in her tac gear still, hair loose and wavy. She was saying something to Pietro and smiling as she disembarked. Then she saw Zev. For a moment she looked stunned. Then her face split into a grin and she started running towards him.

He caught her, taking a step back with the force of it and completely ignoring anything else going on around them. 

_You're here,_ she said, burying her face in his neck. _I'm so happy to see you._

_I didn't know if I should. I just wanted to see you. I couldn't go home._

_I'm really glad you stayed._ She leaned back, cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He sighed and let himself get lost in the kiss. It was more intense than either of them intended, and clearly she was distracted enough to wrestle with her power.

When they finally parted he discovered she'd managed to kick up a small tornado of leaves and loose rocks from the runway. The others were staring.

"Jesus, you're like a Disney princess," Stark said. Wanda didn't bother signing, just passed it on mentally.  
 She was both proud and embarrassed as she took a few deep breaths and the detritus dropped. _Home._

_I'd carry you, but I think that will only provoke more teasing._

_I appreciate the thought._ She tucked her arm through his, waving to her team mates before heading for the carts lined up near the hanger. _Did the Wives treat you well?_

_They were very nice to me. Kept me from getting too worried._

_I'm glad._ She sank into the seat of the electric car and visibly sighed. "I'm sorry I had to ditch you," she signed. Maybe she thought touching would be too risky in the car. They didn't have the best of records there. "I had plans for my birthday night."

He turned and raised an eyebrow at her. "Tornado plans?"

She smiled widely, blushing a little. "Category five."

It actually took him a moment to reply. Did she mean. . .? "F5 would be a tornado. Category 5 would be a hurricane. Both are the kind of thing that blow the roof off houses."

"That's still not exactly my _goal_. But I'd say it's a possibility." They had turned into the driveway of Avengerville and she reached over to touch his arm. A moment later a series of very explicit images of them having sex - in a variety of positions - flickered through his head.

It was maybe the most arousing thing he'd ever experienced. He stretched his hands and made fists again, because really, he had nothing. The only thing he could possibly manage was a nod. Her smile was oddly shy as she took her hand back. The car stopped in front of her place and she stepped out.

He got out of the car a little slower. He rapped on the roof with his knuckles so she'd turn back to look at him. "Where is your brother?"

Her brow furrowed and she tilted her head, eyes unfocusing a moment. "Going to see his woman," she said. "Apparently, he also had birthday plans."

Zev took a deep breath, grateful he wasn't going to have to make awkward small talk in the hallway with a hard-on. It also meant he could back her up against her front door and kiss her until the living room windows rattled. Yeah, the rest of them trudging back to their houses could probably see, but he didn't care. He would imagine most of them had very similar evening agendas anyway.

The door opened behind her and they stumbled into the house and across the foyer, until Wanda's back came up hard against the newel post. He felt a breeze as the door swung shut behind them. 

_Upstairs_ , she thought, working a hand under his shirt. _Attic._

_Yes._ He unzipped her vest and dropped it at the bottom of the stairs, then lifted his arms so she could pull his t-shirt over his head. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up. Her legs locked around his waist and he started up the stairs. _Keep me from falling and killing us._

_Yes. On it._ He could feel her power wrapping around him, tendrils of slight pressure against his skin. She ran a trail of kissed along his jaw and throat, nipping lightly at his ear lobe. They stopped on the second floor so he could brace her better. She lost her shirt in this endeavor.

The door to the attic open on its own, as did the door to the sex room. Zev got a few steps inside before going down to his knees and setting her down. She gestured, presumably to close the door behind them, then gave him a brilliant, sexy smile.

He grinned back at her, and signed, "Shoes," before leaning over to unlace her boots. He felt her watching him as he did so. She spread and wiggled her toes when he got them off, which was kind of adorable. He took his shoes off as well and she obligingly opened the door for him to toss both pairs out. This seemed like a good night to _not_ have any heard, heavy things in the room.

When he turned back to her he discovered she'd been busy, wiggling out of her sports bra to leave her topless. He stopped for a moment to admire her. "I think your pants should go in the hall, too." They had a lot of stuff on them.

"Good idea." She reached down to undo the fastening. She hovered a little to get them off and they went the way of the boots, along with the little scrap of cotton she'd worn beneath them. He stared again, and then stood up to take off his jeans. She stretched out to foot to touch his, probably just so she could share more of her x-rated imaginings—which she did. He could not remember how his zipper worked.

To his surprise, it slid down on its own. He looked at Wanda to find her breathing slow and deep, eyes unfocused again. Her toes moved lightly against his ankle and she lifted him up just enough to drag his jeans off.

He was glad she was still touching him, because he could barely think, let alone form words. He tried to convey he found that astonishing and so very hot. Based on her little shudder, he succeeded. She reached up for him and he took her hand letting her tug him back down to her.

They didn't really need words anymore. When they were naked and tangled up their thoughts and feeling just seemed to mix together. He knew what she wanted, what felt good, at the same moment she did. When he slid a hand down her stomach to stroke her sex he found her already slick and swollen. Her breath stuttered, feathering against his throat. She arched into his touch, burying a hand in his hair to kiss him roughly.

This wasn't the only time they'd do this. There would be time for slow later. She must have heard the thought because she opened her legs, shifting to hook one around him. He could feel the wind pick up above them.

She was nervous. He could feel it buried in among the lust and urgency. Softening the kiss into something he hoped was reassuring, he moved his hand to grip her hip. Her soft hand helped line up his now almost painfully hard erection to he entrance, then reached up to grip his shoulder.

He slowly began to sink into her and the pressure in the room changed, like a thunder storm was imminent. It crackled along his skin like a touch. Pillows hurled themselves out of the tornado, striking the walls. 

When he bottomed out, she shuddered and he lifted his head to meet her eyes. _I trust you._

Her smile was shaky, but she nodded and stroked his cheek gently. _I'll aim for the roof, not you._

He pulled out almost the whole way, and pushed back in, groaning at the feel of her closing around him. _I trust you,_ he told her again.

Her fingers dug into his shoulder and her head fell back. _Zev._ She liked the slow, deep pace, so he kept it up, watching her. Their bond seemed to strengthen and deepen, until he wasn't entirely sure if he was feeling her pleasure or his.

This was something beyond sex. Whatever it was, he'd never felt anything like it. He cupped her breast in one hand, squeezing and feeling the sensation bounce between them. That. . . that deserved more exploration. Anywhere he touched her, he felt it, too.

He could tell she was making noises: moans, whimpers, something. They were both beyond thought, down to just impressions and sensations and feeling. She was getting tense beneath him, power building up with her pleasure. He tried to send her relaxation, calm, encourage her to let it go.

Suddenly she lurched up, wrapping her arms around him and they lifted up off the floor just as he felt the first waves of her climax flutter around him. He felt the pleasure, too, as sharply as if it was his own. Maybe it was. They were floating, rising, the shared orgasm spilling between them, blinding in it's intensity. His back thumped against something.

They were on the ceiling.

He lost track of time for a little while, lost in the echoing pleasure. When it finally ebbed, Wanda was wrapped around him, breathing hard, as if she'd just run a marathon. She lifted her head from where it was buried in his shoulder, then jerked in surprise, arms and legs clenching tighter on him. _Oh, shit._

Zev himself as still as possible. _Can you put us down gently?_ He had no idea what the other options were if she couldn't.

He could sense her thinking, thoughts flickering past too fast for him to follow in their entirety. There was something about being afraid they'd have to get Vision or Stark to fly up and get them. Finally, she peeled one hand off him and pushed against the ceiling and they started down. It was jerky and a little faster than he might have liked, but they landed softly in a pile of pillows and blankets she'd apparently gathered up, so no one was worse for the wear.

He kissed her soundly. _That was amazing._

She laughed, resting her head on his. _Remind me. I don't recall sex being quite that. . . intense before._

_Me neither. Even without the floating. I swear, the last thing I knew we were downstairs. . ._ The thought drifted off. They had been running entirely on lust and instinct, and had used no protection at all. 

_I have a birth control implant,_ she told him before he could properly articulate the question. _Amanda offered it when I came on board and it seemed like a good idea._

_I suppose at some point I should have bought condoms. But I haven't had sex in years and I didn't even think of it._

She tilted her head, surprised. _Years?_

_Med school is very consuming. On top of that, I don't want to take Chuck on dates. It severely limits the pool. There was a Deaf school in DC when I was an undergrad, but the nearest one here is 2 hours up in Rochester._ He shrugged, feeling self conscious.

_I'm not judging._ She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him tenderly. _I haven't had sex in years because I let megalomaniacs experiment on my with a glowing alien staff. I think you're reason is a little more understandable._

The though of someone experimenting on her, possibly hurting her, made him feel angry and protective. Not that he could actually protect her from anything. And not that she needed it at this point. Even if she wasn't one of the most powerful people on her team, there seemed to be quite a line of superheroes willing to defend her. He was just a regular guy.

The fingers stroking his hair stilled and she caught his gaze. _Feeling protective isn't always about actually following through. It's nice to know people care. I like that you're protective._

_Even if, in reality, if anything bad happened I'd probably be most prudent to hide behind you?_

She laughed. _Even if. There's ways to be hurt that aren't physical. I'd need you then._

He kissed her, until she wrapped her arms around him and sank into it. _I won't let anyone break your heart. Least of all me._

The kiss was waking up her body, which started to stir things in his. _I trust you,_ she told him, arching against him.

He grinned, letting his hands go wandering. They could take it slow this time. _We could stay up here all night._

His touch sparked a strong wave of lust to flood him. _We should absolutely do that._

*

It was stiflingly hot in the attic when Wanda woke up. She and Zev were sprawled in a pile of destroyed pillows, both sticky with sweat and. . . other things. Out in the hallway, she could hear something beeping. 

Zev was still sound asleep and likely would have been even if he could hear the beeping. They had been very active the night before. She rolled to her feet, picking feathers off her skin as she staggered to the door to find the source of the beeping.

It was coming from his jeans. She found his watch and his phone in the pockets. Chuck had been sending him text messages. The most recent one on the lock screen asked if he was coming in today.

Right. It was Monday morning.

Well. Shit.

She went back to his side and put a hand on his chest, sinking into their bond like coming home. _Wake up, you're late for work._

He opened his eyes. _It's Monday._

_I'm afraid so._ She held up the phone. _Reassure Chuck._

He nodded, and typed something into it. Then he sat up. "Okay. Shower. Coffee."

"I will get the coffee started. You know where the shower is."

While he was in the shower, she picked up the trail of clothes they'd left all the way from the front door. She was really glad her brother still seemed to be out. Not that he didn't _know_ what she and Zev did with themselves, but she tried to respect boundaries. They were siblings.

She needed a shower of her own, but it could wait until she'd seen Zev off. She pulled on flannel pants and a tank top and went down to the kitchen to start his coffee. Once it was brewing she scrambled together some eggs, cheese and herbs so he could eat.

He came down in clean clothes because he slept here often enough to keep a stash. "I'm seriously considering calling in sick."

"I would totally make that worth your while," she told him, putting a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. "I was hoping for a seventh round this morning."

She liked how wide he grinned. "That sounds like fun."

The night before had been incredible. After the first, frantic round they'd managed a few times of slow, luxurious and still intense sex. They hadn't ended up on the ceiling again, but she'd torn up the pillows, flickered the lights and held both of them up for a rough, blindingly good session against the wall. The last time, just as the sun was starting to lighten the sky, she'd officially sapped her telekinetic powers completely and they'd made love normally, with no tornadoes or levitation.

She snapped out of her thoughts when Zev's coffee cup rattled. He gave her a knowing grin and she blushed. "I think there were at least two positions we didn't try."

He came around the island to kiss her. She could tell he knew he shouldn't, but he did it anyway. It grew intense and hot immediately. Wanda sank her hands into his hair as he backed her up against the counter. This was the sort of thing a person could get addicted to, the connection, the feedback loop of pleasure they generated.She hadn't wanted any of her previous lovers the way she wanted him. Her mind was already filling with images of him sliding a hand into her waistband or tugging her shirt down to reach her breasts.

He followed the thoughts like instructions, one hand going in each direction. _We're out of pillows._

_I know._ They really shouldn't be doing this. Not now and certainly not here. She wasn't back to full strength yet, but she could already feel what power she had building up. _I just. . . I want. . ._ He tugged the neckline of her tank down so he could kiss her breast and she pushed up, lifting herself higher so he could reach.

_I know,_ he told her, and she knew he did.

"Oh, for God’s sakes."

Wanda registered that the words were in Sokovian. They had come from the doorway. They had come from her brother. She hadn't even noticed him come in. When she opened her eyes and looked over, all that was left was a gust of wind, but she did hear cracking wood and breaking glass as he went back through the front door.

She covered her face with a hand, suddenly feeling far less amorous. Zev leaned back in confusion and she sighed. _Pietro just saw us._

He glanced at the doorway. _Well, that's awkward._

From wherever he was—she though out by the playground—Pietro sent, _We just got all the chocolate chips out of the light fixtures from the last time you had sex in the kitchen._

She glared in his general direction. _I was being careful._

_Careful doesn't do home repairs._

Wanda sighed again and thumped her head on the cabinets behind her. "I'm sorry," she signed to Zev. "I have my twin brother yelling at me in my head. I don't think this is happening."

He chuckled. "Yeah I figured. I should get to work anyway."

"Do you want to come back tonight? Pietro's either going to sit in his room and sulk or move out entirely, I'm not sure which."

"I'd invite you to my place, but. . ."

"I don't think your renter's insurance covers me."

He kissed her. "I'll run by the grocery store and then cook you dinner."

"It's a date." She shoed him back to the island to eat his eggs. "Traditionally we get the day after a mission off. Maybe I'll go to town and get more pillows." And possibly something sexy for him to take off of her later.

After he'd eaten his breakfast, she kissed him again and walked to the front door with him. The glass oval in the door was shattered and one of the hinges and broken. There was glass all over the porch.

She was still waiting there after Zev headed off, when Pietro materialized from somewhere. "Sorry. That was an accident."

"I am not one to judge." She flattened her hands out in front of her, gathering the glass up. "I'm sorry you walked in on us. I didn't hear you coming in."

He had an odd look on his face. "I haven't been able to sneak up on you since before. . ." He tapped the side of his head.

The glass swirled together like snowflakes in reverse, collecting in a sphere. "I was distracted. When I'm with Zev usually all I can hear is him." She paused and frowned. Saying it out loud made her realized how odd it was. She generally had to focus to block others out. With Zev it just seemed to happen.

"Is that a bug or a feature?"

"I'm not sure. I'd prefer not to be hearing other people when I'm with him. But it does mean I can be snuck up on. Though it's not like he'd going to be around on missions or the like." She looked at Pietro and smiled. "It means you don't have to leave all the time. If I can't hear you."

"I can't think to you when he's here, can I?"

"Not if we're touching. So far we need contact for it to work." She gestured to her collection of glass and he blurred away, returning with a waste bin. The glass tinkled neatly into it.

"We used to need that." When Strucker had figured out they were talking to each that way— outside of the constant surveillance of their cell—they'd been separated. Eventually, she'd learned to connect them through the wall.

"When we're not touching, he's like any other mind. You were always easiest for me to find." The door was going to need to come off to be fixed. "Perhaps in time he and I will reach that point. But we are still fairly new."

He looked up at the door. "I'll get a curtain to at least keep the AC in." It wasn't like they needed the door for security. "But it is serious, isn't it? You and him?"

"I think so." She couldn't quite read his tone, but she answered honestly. "Granted I don't have much frame of reference for it but. . . I would be very sad if I never saw him again. He makes me very happy."

"Good," he said. She could tell he was a little sad at that. It had been just the two of them for so long. But he didn't let that show. "You deserve to be happy."

Wanda reached over and touched his arm. "You will never lose me, dear brother. No matter who else comes in my life."

He hugged her. "Did you have breakfast?"

"No, I fed him so he could run to work slightly less late."

"Good. I miss cooking for you."

She grinned and did a little dance. "Something fancy?"

"Anything your little heart desires." He paused. "But seriously, Wanda. I don't ever want to see your boob again. Can we make that happen?"

Laughing she walked with him back into the house. "I think we should all put a great deal of effort in making sure that never happens."

She washed dishes while he gathered ingredients for what sounded like stuffed french toast. "You were really awesome on the mission," he told her.

That all seemed ages ago. "Thank you for listening to me. When I told you to go after the hostages. I appreciate you trusting me."

"You are usually right."

"Only took twenty eight years to get you to realize it." She looked over at him. "Who is the woman?"

He ducked his head in the fridge. "Just the usual evening entertainment."

"It's the same one the last month at least. That's not usual." She paused. When he didn't respond or stop pretending to look for something in the fridge she added, "You think of her."

"I've been over there a lot lately. Someone has been sexing me out of the house."

"You're cute when you think I don't notice you dodging."

He put his ingredients on the counter. "You don't like hearing about my cheap and tawdry affairs."

She leaned on the island, watching him. "I don't. Is that what she is?"

He looked uncomfortable. "That's all they ever are."

"They also only last a night or two, not a month. Pietro, talk to me. I can tell this is something else and I don't even have to read you."

He hesitated, then said. "It's been longer than a month. We have an arrangement. Sex and conversation. Gets us what we need with no strings."

Conversation sounded like more than no strings attached, but she kept that to herself. "You like her?"

He smiled, and his whole face changed. Yeah, there were strings. Psychic power not needed. "She's good company."

Asking to meet her would almost certainly get him to retreat. Soft press, then. "Does she have a name?"

"Ora. She's hispanic. Mexican, I think. She's older than me, though you wouldn't know it to look at her. She teaches at Cornell."

So _definitely_ not his usual affair. "What does she teach?"

"Linguistics. She speaks like 15 languages." He looked over at her. "I thought she was a grad student at most," he said, a little defensively.

She held up her hands. "As of two days ago I'm older than Zev. Again, I do not judge."

"She's got some stuff. Some history. Suffice to say I've managed to meet the only woman in the vicinity that thinks the whole Avengers thing is not a plus."

Wanda couldn't help but laugh. "Poor Pietro. Forced to rely on your looks and charm."

"Well. There is a third thing she seems fond of."

She threw the towel she was holding at him. "Oh, gross."

He turned to look at her. "You wanna go, sis? Cookie dough? Feathers? _Your boob before breakfast_." He gave a shudder that went through his whole body.

"Do not start a battle you can't win, big brother. You may have quantity but I have weirdness factor."

"Yeah, okay. I don't want to hear about your freaky tornado sex life."

She stuck out a hand. "Mutual non-disclosure agreement?"

"I've always known you were brilliant."

When he shook her hand she held it a little longer than needed. "She makes you happy?"

He smiled fondly. "Assuming I don't piss her off."

Oh he was so far gone and didn't even seem to know it. "Then maybe I stop feeling guilty about sexing you out of the house."

"it's not any less weird because I have somewhere to go."

"We'd go elsewhere but I break things."

"I'm going to cook you breakfast instead of thinking about that."

"Thank you. To help you with that, I think I'll go upstairs and shower."

He waved his hand a little. "Go."

She kissed his cheek and gave him an impulsive hug on her way past.


	11. Chapter 11

Doc wasn't in the lab that day, so it was quiet. Zev managed to actually concentrate and get things done. Then he went back to his apartment to get some stuff. He wondered how conspicuous he was carrying a bag up Wanda's porch, but he didn't really care. He'd still rather be there than anywhere else. 

The glass transom on her front door was broken, covered by a square of cardboard. He'd texted her to let her know he was coming and she'd replied that she was out at the lake. So he stowed his bag inside the house and made his way out to the dock to find her swimming in the lake, painted gold and red from the setting sun.

He kicked his shoes off and sat on the end of the dock, legs dangling in the water, just watching her. They were still very new. It was too soon to be feeling anything. Except somehow, he did.

She dove beneath the water and surfaced near him, curling a hand around his ankle. He had the brief thought that she looked like a siren, with her wet hair plastered to her neck and shoulders. She grinned, obviously seeing the image. _Wouldn't work on you. You couldn't hear me luring you._

_I can see you. That would be enough._

_Charmer. Did you have a good day?_

_It was Monday. But it's better now that I'm here._

She levitated upwards out of the water, like some sort of mythical creature, and she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his body. _I'm soaking you,_ she protested, even as she wrapped her arms around him, straddling his legs.

He fiddled with the ties of her bathing suit. He could feel her want and his. _I don't care._ It was a simple bandeau top with one hook in the back. He tugged it a little harder, making it slip down. 

The wave of excitement and arousal she gave off when it fell was staggering. Apparently, Wanda had a bit of exhibitionist in her. He grinned against her mouth and stroked her back. _Can anybody see us?_

With a shudder, she leaned back a little, breaking the kiss and lifting her hands off of him. She looked distant for a moment, then shook her head. _No. No one's looking._

He untied the bottoms. _Will you be able to tell if they do?_

Her whole body shuddered. _No one's home_

That was good enough for him, especially with the way she was grinding in his lap. They had quite the feedback loop going when they touched. The water around the dock became choppy and rough as he slid his fingers against her wet folds. Her kiss got rough and he felt her hands on the fly of his jeans. _Are we really doing this? Out here?_

_Do you want to stop?_ he asked, even though he knew the answer.

She rocked deliberately against his hand. _Don't you dare._ That was the last discussion needed. Their thoughts melded into each other's. He cupped her breasts and she opened his jeans. She shifted herself into the right position, even using her powers to move him a little. He rubbed his thumb against her clit as she sank onto him.

There was another rough shudder as he sank in to the hilt. Her thoughts were scattered and chaotic, but seemed extremely complimentary. The lake continued to churn against the posts of the dock as she began to rock against him, moving in short, deep strokes. 

Nothing he'd ever experienced in his life had felt as good as this. As _them_. She was the only thing he needed, slick and hot, surrounding him and sliding against him. He could tell she agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment.

Her movement got rough and erratic and he felt her desperation crank up and grow frantic. He could feel her nails into his shoulders and her legs squeeze his and had the impression she was trying to warn him she was close to coming. The air shifted and crackled around them, wind rushing and water spraying. He held onto her and felt her squeeze around him. There was no stopping it.

Pleasure echoed between them as they both shook with the force of their climaxes. They didn't levitate this time, she plunged all her power into the lake, sending up two jets of water that rained down on them. Zev fell back onto the worn wood of the dock as they calmed, Wanda still rocking against him idly. What little he could sort out of her thoughts made it quite clear that all those things it was far too early for him to be feeling were entirely mutual.

It was still raining on them, the water had gone that high. He stroked her hair and looked up at the sky, feeling immensely content. _I've never felt like this before._ The thought was impossible to contain.

She sighed softly, stroking his shoulder. _Neither have I._

They were quiet a long time, until the sun was completely gone. _We should go inside._

_Yes._ Lifting her head, she kissed his mouth tenderly, then carefully sat up and moved off of him, gathering up the pieces of her bathing suit. She stood, but didn't put them on as he'd expected, but just reached down to help him up. He was so mesmerized he nearly tripping over his own pants. He actually _might_ have tripped, and she held him up with her powers so he could get them zipped again.

They walked back to the house, holding hands. There was a robe on the mud porch that Wanda regrettably slipped into as they walked in. "I'll be a nudist later," she promised him.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. _I may hold you to that_

She sank into him, hands curling around his waist. _I like when you look at me that way._

_Like I want you?_

_Like I'm air and you're drowning._

He kissed her again. Because sometimes, she was.

The rest of the summer seemed to pass in a blur, notable for a miserable heat wave in early August, the introduction of Pietro's apparent girlfriend to the wives club and the end of Zev's internship at Stark. He'd be back to his usual routine at Cornel come Labor Day. Wanda, who had previously not shown any signs of being clingy, seemed to think it was as good as him shipping off to war.

_I will be alone,_ she said, hanging over the back of his chair as he checked his class schedule for the next week. _I will be alone and you will be surrounded by buxom coeds._ The use of the word buxom as well as their ever growing bond assured him she was kidding. More or less.

_Only four of the 18 people in my program are women. Two are married, one's a lesbian and the last is a B-cup at best._ He turned his head to kiss her cheek. _Also, if I hit on any of them I'd have to do it through Chuck, and he'd conk me over the head._

_I am both relieved and angry at the mysogynistic imbalance in STEM fields. It's unsettling._

Zev closed his laptop. _There's a reason the media are so in love with both Doc and Jane._

She was quiet a moment, resting her cheek against the top of his head. _I'm not well educated. I stopped going to school when I was ten._ She moved around the chair to sit across from him, switching to sign. "Do you wish I had degrees?"

He blinked in surprise. "Of course not."

"Darcy asked me if I was going to meet your family. I know your parents are doctors and a bunch of your siblings. You're getting two degrees. I just. . . thought maybe I wouldn't measure up."

"You saved the world. You're an Avenger. They're probably going to ask for autographs."

She smiled a little. "Everyone has self doubts."

"There are many ways to be extraordinary. Yours is more awesome than mine."

"I think you're pretty awesome." She paused, then, despite them not being in contact he heard in his head, _I think you make me more awesome._

That had never happened before. He didn't know if it would work, but he sent back, _Apparently._

She grinned and bounced in her seat. "It worked!"

"That's quite handy."

"It took me ages to do it with Pietro back in the labs. I thought someday with you. But this morning I heard Darcy outside - Darcy thinks very loudly. And I responded to her, sort of instinctively. And she heard me. I think I'm getting stronger, or maybe just more in tune with my powers. And I do think that's thanks to you."

"Me? Why?"

"Being with you has made me test my limits and learn to work around them. How to listen to my body and powers and channel them. And you were the first person I didn't share a womb with that I managed to actually talk to telepathically. It's made me confident enough to explore what else I can do."

He grinned. "A good relationship will change you for the better."

"I guess so." She stood and braced her hands on the arms of his chair, leaning in to kiss him. _Would you like to go explore our relationship upstairs?_

_I will never say no to that._

*

Wanda had never had a proper job, not really. She and Pietro had occasionally worked under the table for various shop keepers and the like. But they had been short term, often with only the owner or a couple of other equally illegally paid workers even knowing her name. She'd never worked in an office or sat through a team meeting or had proper coworkers. She didn't really know how other workplaces functioned.

Steve ran the Avengers like a combination of an army unit and a high level executive team. Which mean regular team meetings to go over any issues or concerns. There had been a lot of them when she and Pietro had first joined and again when they'd officially moved to Ithaca and come under government oversight. Since then they had tapered off to only once every month or two.

This month's was fairly straightforward. Updates on what Stark was working on, schedule of Steve's paternity leave in a few months. When it was opened up to comments and questions Wanda squared her shoulders and raised a hand.

Hill raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to raise your hand."

Steve gave her a look, then said, "Yes, Wanda?"

She didn't actually know how to start this conversation. Maybe she should have just told Nat and let her handle it. Too late now. "After the bomb incident you asked me to keep you apprised of any new skills I figure out that would be useful in the field. I think I have one, but it would require cooperation from the group."

"That's generally not a problem," he said, glancing at Stark.

She took a deep breath. "You know I can talk to Pietro silently. Zev and I can do it, too. I had assumed it required some sort of significant relationship to make it work. But the other day Darcy and I did it accidentally from at least twenty feet apart." She paused to let that sink in. "I think with practice I could do it with anyone. Certainly all of you. I thought it would be useful in cases when silence was required."

"I assume that would require people to let you read them?"

"No, not completely. It's more a matter of learning how to open a channel." She looked at Pietro. "How would you describe it?"

He huffed out a sigh and tipped his head back. "Like when you're formulating what to say in your head before saying it. Only instead of saying it you just think it really hard."

"People project thoughts all the time," Wanda clarified. "Darcy thinks particularly loudly which is why she and I did it accidentally. Sometimes i can't differentiate it from speech."

"I'm willing to try it out," Steve said. "I think it has potential." He looked at the table. "Anybody else?" 

"I'm game," Nat said. Wanda could feel her pride from across the table. "Completely silent mission is like a spy's wet dream."

"I will try it as well," Thor said.

The rest of them agreed, though she could feel Stark and Bucky were slightly hesitant about it. Stark probably didn't matter, if he was on a mission stealth was likely not a factor. She knew Bucky was thinking of brainwashing at the hands of Hydra, making him not entirely comfortable with any kind of mind reading. They could take that at his pace. If it didn't work then hopefully the majority would.

She was a little surprised Clint agreed, given how adamant he'd been about her not reading him when she'd first come New York. Time and trust could change a lot, she supposed.

Maria agreed to schedule one-on-one meetings for Wanda and the rest of them and the meeting wrapped up. Nat came around the table and nodded approvingly. "Knew you'd be good for something."

Praise from Nat had a price higher than rubies. "Yes, glorified telephone operator. About time I started pulling my weight."

"You don't know how vital comms are until you try to fight without them," Steve said.

"You remember that time in Austria when we got lost in the woods?" Bucky said. "You, me, Morita and Jones playing Marco Polo trying to get each other's position."

"I climbed a tree to see if I could find them," Steve added.

"You guys really suck the glamor out of the war," Nat said. 

He chuckled. "Who gave you the impression there was glamor?"

She blinked innocently. "Movies."

Steve put his hands on his hips, and before he could say anything Bucky said, "For God's sake, Nat, _why_?"

"Because they're _hilarious_. Have you seen the one from the 80s where they turned him into Rambo?"

"I don't understand how people could make such terrible misrepresentations of history," Steve said. Bucky's eye roll indicated he heard this a lot.

"People don't go to movies for history lessons," Nat said. "They go to feel good. Movies got America through the depression, your war, Vietnam, the recession, the eighties and so much more. They're products of their time. Post war America needed happy endings. Cold War America needed ass kicking patriots. In a hundred years there'll be movies about us, in whatever form will bring comfort to that America."

"None of that required them to whitewash the Commandos and turn Peggy into a secretary or nurse."

"The climate of the country did. Just because _you_ were progressive and forward thinking doesn't mean other people were. It wasn't wartime, it was pre-civil rights, pre-women's lib America. It had to be safe to be comforting."

Bucky looked over at Wanda. "Save yourself. They'll be at this for hours."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Wanna go get some coffee?"

She blinked, surprised, but nodded, "Sure."

The building their meeting room was in had a very nice espresso bar. Bucky got them both coffee and the found somewhere to sit. "I didn't know you were interested in using that aspect of your powers."

Curling her hands around the warm coffee cup, she carefully considered her answer. "If I've learned anything from my training with the kinesis it's that ignoring it is dangerous. I had to embrace and learn from it before I could use it effectively. The same holds true for the telepathy." She blew across the top of her latte before sipping carefully. "I'm getting stronger, somehow. Either from use or because whatever they did to me has finally settled in someway. I'd like to get on top of controlling it before something awful happens."

"You can put things in people's heads?"

Since joining the team she had made it a point to be as open and honest about her powers as possible, with the people she was allowed to be honest with. It was the only way to have her teammates trust her after their first encounters. The main problem was in how difficult it was to explain her powers to someone else. "Up until this point everything I've done has already been in people's heads. Worst fear, best memory. When I lived with Nat and Clint she said she dreamed about being a child, things she'd long since forgotten. To my knowledge I've never. . . added anything. Made someone think or feel or experience something that they didn't already. I suppose you could argue the telepathy is adding something, but Pietro and Zev both say it's very clearly me talking in their head, different from their own thoughts." She turned her coffee mug this way and that. "If you're asking if I _could_ influence someone then it's possible that power will emerge as I get stronger."

"I'm wondering if you could take something away."

She sipped her coffee to keep herself from staring at him agape. Of all the people she'd thought would be willing to let her tinker with their head he was at the bottom of the list, probably tied with Clint. "I would hesitate to cut anything out completely. Not without more practice. But depending on what it was I could. . . wall it off somewhere. So you wouldn't think of it."

"Even in my dreams?"

"Probably? Dreams are tricky because the subconscious is involved. It might take some trial and error, but it would be a good test for me. If you're willing to be a guinea pig."

He winced a little at the choice of words. "I'll think about it."

Guilt stabbed her, fed by the distress she felt from him. "It's what I made you see in Johannesburg, isn't it?"

He looked down. "Not. . .only that. But . . . yes."

Bitterness coated her tongue and she felt vaguely ill. "I know apologies do little. But I am very, very sorry for what I did."

He reached out and put his hand over hers. "I did a lot of horrible things in my day."

The touch comforted and made it worse in equal measures. On one hand she knew he meant it and didn't blame her. On the other, he was still upset and unsettled and contact made that worse. "I will do what I can to help you," she promised. "To make up for it."

"Thank you," he said quietly.

She nodded, relaxing a little when he squeezed her hand and released it. "Let me know when you're ready. We'll start slow and see what works."

He nodded, and then he took his coffee and left. Idle chatter wasn't exactly his thing. She stayed where she was, sipping her latte and feeling miserable and out of sorts. Maybe she could go play with the babies. They always perked her up.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it to see Maria had updated her calendar with her first batch of one-on-ones. This was going to be a busy week. The thought did nothing to cheer her.

She didn't have Zev's schedule memorized yet, but it was after three, so he might be out of class, or at least on a break. Worst case he'd have his phone on silent and not disturb anyone. So she sent him a quick text. _How's school?_

_Kind of fun. This is the last year before it gets nuts again._

_Fun is good._ She rubbed her thumb against the edge of the phone, debating what to say. She wanted to ask him when he was coming back, tell him she'd had a bad day and needed him. But that wasn't fair. This was a partnership, she couldn't be leaning on him all the time. And if she was getting stronger then she needed to find ways to settle herself on her own. Zev wouldn't be there on missions and she couldn't expect to be baby sat if she got overwhelmed.

Standing, she headed for the doors while answering. _Told the team about my telepathy idea. They're all for it._

_I'm proud of you._

That helped. Made a little of the clawing guilt and fear and grief receded. _It'll be a process, but I have hope. I was surprised everyone was okay with it._ Outside, she had her choice of electric carts to take her home. She chose the closest and leaned back as it hummed along the path. _We should do something this weekend._

_Other than hide in the sex room?_

She smiled. _Yes. We could hike or go into the City to see a museum or something. Coupley, normal person things._

There was a pause before he replied, _Will there still be some time in the room?_

_No, I'm putting you on a sex embargo for no discernible reason. Of course there will be time in the room. I want to see how long I can keep us on the ceiling._

_I'm done in an hour, I have work to do but can bring it over._

Relief flooded her. _I can't wait._ The car pulled up in front of her house and she climbed out, tucking the phone away. A scan told her Pietro was out and she sighed. The conversation with Zev had improved her mood but some distress lingered.

She skirted the house, heading out to the end of the dock. The lake remained one of her favorite places to meditate. Maybe in the spring she'd get some sort of canoe or small boat she could take out to the middle to get proper isolation.

For now, she sat at the very end of the dock and slipped off her shoes. She she closed her eyes, breathing deeply, and let her mind wander, sinking down into the water and out around her. She brushed across dozens of presences. The fish in the lake were there, simple and uncomplicated. They thought only of eating and avoiding larger fish. In the woods she could feel the birds, similarly single minded. The squirrels knew it was fall and were hunting for all the food they could, stocking their nests to bursting. She made a mental note to look up what they could safely eat and leave some out for them as it grew colder.

There were deer in the woods, as well as raccoons. They were slightly more complicated. She let herself drift over them, marking each one and how close they came to the houses. She could feel the pets, Panzer happily gnawing on a stick. London, the Barton's cat, had found a new hiding space. Violet and her kids were home. Wanda marked them on the mental map she was drawing and kept going, seeing how far she could stretch. 

Sharon was home, and Natasha was over there. In the parking lot beyond the fence, Thor was holding up a car for someone who needed to change a tire. Pepper and Stark were getting out of a car in front of the medical labs for a meeting with Amanda. They were nervous—she knew Pepper had just had what would be her last embryo transfer. Amanda was running late. Dr. Lee was angry at someone. In the training gym Steve and Bucky were having a pull-up contest in front of a bunch of field agents. Something in the engineering lab was on fire. In the observatory up on the hill, Jane was doing math so complicated listening made Wanda's head hurt.

And Zev was six miles up the road.

She surrounded them all, her family and loved ones, glowing like stars in the map in her head. Some of them were brighter than others - the one she felt closest too, oddly enough. Sharon glowed warm and happy, Clint was in his workshop, a stark white light, steady as the north star. And Zev blazed like a comet, or maybe like a small sun. 

Six miles was well past her previous limits. She was definitely getting stronger. In time, she might be able to find people across the country. Maybe world. These people, anyway.

She imagined many of them would find that comforting. And a year ago they would have found it alarming. But they trusted her. All of them. 

Settled and emotionally stable, she slowly pulled in her awareness, making sure to brush by Zev in a kind of mental hug. When she was back to herself she opened her eyes to see the sun had dipped considerably. She took a deep breath of warm fall air and smiled.

She sat on the dock a little bit longer, and when she walked back up to the house, Zev was just coming up the walk. He came around the house to meet her at the side door. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt. _Hello._

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. _Hi._

After her parents died, she had spent a long time grieving the fact she had no home. When she was a little girl, home had been the rust colored couch with the chocolate milk stain and the worn linoleum in the kitchen and the creaky floor board in the hall between her and Pietro's room. It had been the smell of whatever her mother was cooking and the grumble of her father and his friends talking in the living room.

It wasn't until she was older that she'd understood home could be a person. That Pietro was home.

Right now, wrapped up in Zev's arms, she realized he had become home for her as well. 

When she'd first gained her mind reading skills, identifying what the emotions of others sounded like had been a mixed bag. Some were more obvious than others. The hardest to discern, it turned out, was love, because the only person it had ever come from was her brother, and she couldn't separate it from him. She'd only been able to isolate it in New York when it had come off of someone else—much to her surprise.

The first few weeks with the team she had sensed a variety of thoughts and feelings in relation to her and Pietro. Concern, distrust, reluctant acceptance. No one was out right hostile and most made an effort to make them feel welcome and included. It hadn't occurred to her to hope for more.

They had still been staying with the Bartons. She'd been helping Clint make a cake for Nat's birthday while her brother distracted the redhead to give them time. They'd been on their third batch of frosting and she was patiently measuring powdered sugar and cocoa when she realized his feelings for her had shifted. She'd almost spilled her measuring cup. It had been small and new and a little different than what her brother felt. But it had most assuredly been love. There were more after that. Violet, then Sharon, then Darcy. Steve and Amanda. Thor. One by one the rest of them all shifted, like tiny lights coming on, each one warming her a little more. It had been one of the most amazing experiences of her life.

She'd felt all manner of emotions from Zev. Affection, lust, pride. But now, small as an ember and so new he probably didn't even realize it was there, was love. Its existence warmed her from the inside out, filling in a little corner of her heart. She tightened her arms around him, sucking in a short, sharp breath.

He nuzzled her hair. _You okay?_

It was too new to say it to him. He deserved the chance to figure it out himself. _I'm fine,_ she told him. _Perfect. What do you say to a trip to the attic before dinner?_

_That sounds brilliant._


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shortish chapter because there was nowhere to break the next scene that wouldn't leave you in a terrible cliffhanger and I'm feeling too nice for that.

Zev was not particularly religious. Wanda was probably more so, though he wasn't sure how much of that was about God and how much was about re-assembling a cultural identity. His family was not particularly devout either, except for the set of sanctimonious orthodox cousins everybody seemed to have, and that one uncle who moved to Israel to live out in the desert in a yurt. But even the Tachengreggers went to Synagogue on Rosh Hashanah—even if most of them did think of the High Holy Days as primarily about the food. They also had enough cultural identity to make an offensively stereotypical TV sitcom. 

When he'd emailed his mother to tell her he'd like to invite his girlfriend, she'd been overjoyed. Wanda had been nervous. 

_It's just that I've never done this before,_ she told him as they headed down that morning. _Met the family. What if I say the wrong thing? You have no idea how distressing I find uncomfortable social situations._

Conversing while driving certainly made the Thruway less boring than usual. _My family is loud and rowdy and kind of obnoxious, but they're next to impossible to offend._

She visibly sighed. _Did you warn them who I am?_

_Yes. My mother told the family, and apparently one of my nephews insisted on wearing a full Captain America costume to dinner in your honor._

That at least got her to smile. _I wish I'd known. I could have brought a picture or something._

He glanced over at her. _There will be other visits._

_That's true. I suppose if I really wanted to impress them I could arrange a visit. Apparently Ada buys friends with Thor appearances._

He laughed. _She's a smart kid._ He reached over to squeeze her hand. _Also, I know exactly how distressing you find uncomfortable social situations. At least, I assume you were the source of my dreams about being naked at a cocktail party last night._

Her cheeks reddened and she covered her face with her free hand. _Oh God._

_See? It could be worse. You'll be dressed._

She glanced down at the very pretty red and grey dress she wore over black leggings and boots. She and Darcy had found a couple second hand and non-chain clothing stores and were now giving them all their money. _I do look nice._

_You look fantastic. And not at all like the weird hippie chick that was the last girlfriend I brought home._

_I feel like I need to know more about your exes. Hippie chick, really?_

_She had dreds._

_Zev. Honey. Were you rebelling?_

_I was young. And she didn't believe in wearing a bra._

She glanced down at her chest, almost despite herself, then tilted her head thoughtfully. _Perhaps in the winter._

His first thought was that it was far more likely he'd be looking at Wanda topless in twenty years and perhaps he ought to endorse proper support. He didn't share it with her, but it was clearly loud enough she heard it.

_I've been reliably assured that the babies will ruin me far more that improper bra support. But I appreciate the concern and forethought._

He grinned, inordinately happy at that. _Just don't mention the B word around my mother._

She laughed. _I was also warned about that, too. By the few friends i have with actual in-laws. Don't worry. My company manners are impeccable._

_If only my family's were._

Leaning across the center console, she kissed his cheek. _You put up with my crazy family. I will be just fine with yours._

He wounds his way through his parents neighborhood, having to park a couple blocks away because of the crowd. Wanda climbed out and waited for him on the curb, fidgeting with her skirt and cardigan nervously. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, and then they headed down the sidewalk. The neighborhood was very ritzy now, but according to his mother it had been practically a demilitarized zone when they'd bought their brownstone in the early 70's. 

Turning down the walkway, she peered up at the five story building. "What floor are they on?" she signed.

"It's a single family house."

She turned slowly to stare at him. "I wasn't even _looking_ for a sugar daddy."

"They've lived here for forty years," he said in his defense. "Also, they are both doctors."

"I know enough about New York real estate to still be impressed. I should take a picture for Steve and Bucky."

He turned the doorknob and took a deep breath. _Brace yourself._

She straightened her shoulders and tightened her mouth, then gave him a little nod to indicate he could go ahead.

He had been told his family was overwhelmingly loud. He'd brought Chuck and Matt home for Passover one year and Chuck complained he needed earplugs. He hoped no one would shriek too much. From the foyer you could see a bunch of them in the living room, and every eye turned to stare. He signed, "Do not bum rush."

Wanda was all but vibrating with nerves. Zev was a little afraid things were going to start flying off shelves. But she rallied, waved and spoke while signing, "Hi. I'm Wanda."

As if she'd flipped a switch, everyone seemed to start talking again. His mother and eldest sister leapt up and came over to greet them. His mother hugged him, and then hugged Wanda. "I'm Rachel," his mother said. "This is Leah."

"She's way too pretty for you," Leah said.

His mother hushed her and beamed widely at Wanda. "We're so happy you could come."

"Thank you for having me. Zev has told me a lot about you all."

"Most of it was probably exaggeration. How about I introduce you around?" 

"I would love that, thank you." His mom dragged her away, over to the group, leaving him with Leah. 

"She's seriously too pretty for you."

"She's too a lot of things for me," he said, grinning with pride. 

"I heard. An Avenger. You're going to be the popular Uncle for a while. Who did you make a pact with to score her?"

"I did take abuse from the Emperor of the Universe, who secretly works in Dr. Newbury-Barnes's lab. She rescued me." He shrugged. "So, you, really. I owe you." Doc had worked for MSF back in the day, and Leah knew her. She'd made a few calls and helped him get his internship.

Leah looked positively delighted at getting the credit. "Name the first three babies after me, we'll call it even." He gave her a look and she shrugged expansively. "Mom's already got the wedding and honeymoon planned. I just go along for the ride."

"Try not to overwhelm her, okay? She doesn't have much family and I know how this crowd can get."

"I'll behave. I don't control the rest of them. There is a great deal of excitement that the baby boy has brought home a mate."

Before he could answer, Wanda's voice trickled into his head. _Help. Me._

"Excuse me," he told Leah, and then dashed over to her. 

She was halfway around the room, facing off against three of his more boisterous uncles. He wrapped a hand around her hers when he reached her and she shuddered a little, like getting a hit of heroin. _There's too many people and I won't remember half their names. And your uncles are slightly pervy and think loud._

_I'd tell them off but none of them bothered to learn much sign language._

_Touching you makes it easier. They don't seem to require my interaction._

_I'm happy to touch you anytime._

There was a slight flicker of some thought that she squashed immediately. _Please don't make me think sexy thing around your MOTHER._

He just grinned at her. Then he signed, "Tell them I'm taking you to meet my dad."

It took her a few seconds before she was able to get a word in. Then she said and signed, "I'm sorry. Zev's father is very eager to meet me. I'm sure we'll get a chance to chat later." She turned to take his arm before the uncles could protest.

_Sorry they're shitty._

She squeezed his arm. _They're not shitty. They were trying to be welcoming and weren't mean. It was just. . . a lot to take in._

_I meant the pervy part._ He took her into the kitchen, where a his father was peering into a pot. "Hiding again, I see," Zev said. Crowds weren't his father's thing, so he holidays were always a trial. After a hug, he said, "Wanda Maximoff, Eli Taschengregger."

He smiled widely at Wanda and shook her hand with both of his, speaking without signing for a moment. Then he let her go and immediately picked it up. "We were very happy when Zev asked if you could come. We'd heard dribs and drabs and our curiosity was peaked."

"It was very nice of you to let me come." She was beaming, the tension draining out of her.

"My wife ran you through the gauntlet?"

"A little bit. I think Zev brought me here for a reprieve."

"Well, you are welcome to hang out in my kitchen. My kids know better than to hassle me while I'm cooking." He looked at her seriously. "Do you bake?"

"I love to bake. I'm making Zev fat with my poticn."

"I don't know what poticn is, but if it's kosher I may make you make it."

"It is, it's from my home country. One of the few recipes of my mother's that I remember."

His father nodded, then he pointed at bowls of risen dough on the massive center island. His dad's kitchen was rather tricked out. "You know how to braid challah?"

Her mouth opened and closed. "I can try?"

"Dad, don't put her to work. . ." Zev tried, but he was already waving her towards the bread dough.

_It's okay,_ she told him, obediently going to the piles a dough. _I like kitchens._

"People leave you be if they think you're doing something that requires concentration." His father waved a hand. "Go visit."

He cast one more looked at Wanda, who had pulled out one of the balls of dough and was carefully sectioning it out. She glanced up and gave him a reassuring smile and nod. So he shrugged and went back to the crowd in the living room.

"Did your father deputize her?" his mother asked when she spotted him.

"Yes. We're kind of overwhelming, you might have noticed."

"After this many years I don't even hear it." She looked up at him. "This one is serious then?"

"You're extrapolating that because I left her with Dad?"

"Because you brought her home for a holiday and she willingly subjected herself to all of us. Because you watched me move her around the room while talking to your sister. Because she lights up when your name if mentioned. And you have that instinctive, talking without words thing it takes most of us a couple years of marriage and at least one really bad vacation to really get down."

That last one was a little more complicated, of course. . . but he was pretty sure he couldn't blame that just one her power. Or, at least, it worked different with them than it did with others. He thought about making a comment about how he was good at reading body language, but it was impossible to obfuscate around his mother. She'd just wear you down. "Okay, yes. It is."

Rachel Taschengregger nodded, looking pleased with herself. "It's good. She's a good girl. Little sad, little lost. But kind. You can tell just looking at her. And she knows ASL. I always said you were my lucky kid."

He grinned. "She's even Jewish. You were going to let me off the hook on that one."

"Once again, you exceed my expectations."

"I really wanted you guys to meet her." 

His mother paused to give him a tight hug before continuing to sign, "I like her. Your father must, too, if she's been allowed in the kitchen. And she makes you happy."

"She does. She's like. . ." he shrugged. "Something I didn't even know was missing."

"Good. That's good. I don't imagine being with a superhero is easy. It will need to be strong to last."

"Maybe not easy, but it's a hell of a lot of fun."

She waved her hands at him. "I don't want to know. But I'm happy for you. How's school?"

He filled his mother in on his research. It wasn't really her area—she was a psychiatrist—but she was always very interested. He made small talk with the rest of the family, caught up with his sisters. HIs nephew had, in fact, worn a Captain America costume, which Zev took a picture of for Wanda to show Steve later. As he made the rounds, delicious smells started to fill the house.

Eventually his mother announced dinner was ready and they all started filing into the dining room, where Wanda and his Dad were bringing food out. His mother has seated them next to each other near one end of the table. He slid his hand into hers when they sat. _Have fun?_

_I really did. Your dad is nice. He's calming, like you._

_I'm calming?_

_You calm me, when I'm rattled. Some people are more even keel in their emotions. Clint's like that, too. So is Violet._

_Apparently I was a very quiet baby._

_My mother said the same about me. Which was good because Pietro was apparently a problem._

His father materialized behind her back and signed silently. "I like her. If you break up, I'm keeping her and you need to find a new family."

He laughed. "How do you know she's not horrible when she's not on company manners?"

"She can cook and has an opinion on egg white peak stiffness. She's got a good soul. I can tell these things."

He grinned. "Thanks, Dad."

He nodded and went to find his seat. Wanda's brows were arched. "I've met his approval?"

"Yes. They're ready to adopt you."

"Mission accomplished, then."

"Thank you for coming," he said, feeling far more emotional about it than he expected. It had been a big deal for her, he knew. 

She obviously felt it. Her eyes got a little damp and she leaned over to hug him, resting her head on his shoulder. _Thank you for sharing your family._

He kissed her shoulder. _Happy New Year._


	13. Chapter 13

The week after Rosh Hashanah was very busy. Wanda had started her one-on-one telepathy training and while it was going well, it was a strain. They had started with two on a day, but it had left her with a piercing migraine that took two days to clear up completely. After that it was one a day, in the morning, so she had the afternoon to relax and meditate. Stark rescheduled four times and she was guessing number five wasn't going to happen either. Bruce seemed honestly willing and eager but ended up canceling last minute when Ada got hurt at school and he had to run into town to get her. Wanda heard the Hulk yelling about **NO HURT LITTLE ONES** from the science lab before his text even showed up.

She didn't get to Steve until halfway through the next week, after a weekend to recoup and another cancellation from Tony. She was actually looking forward to Steve, he was steady and stable, in a way that was different from Zev, but still soothing. Plus he'd long been okay with her reading him, so she expected this to go smooth and simple.

"Come on in," Steve called from somewhere in the house. They had the door and all the windows open. Steve liked fresh air—even, apparently, when it was 80. When she found him, he was actually closing windows. "Sharon's on her way home. I promised her I'd put the AC on."

Steve hated the cold, to an almost pathological degree. That he was turning AC on was truly an act of love. "If you want to, we can go outside when we work. You should be comfortable."

"Nah, I'm fine. The air circulates well, it doesn't get cold, just comfortable,"

"All right. Let me know if that changes." She followed him as he did his window circuit. "It's been going well with everyone, but I think we'll need to wait for Stark. He keeps putting me off and I think at least some of it is because he's stressed about Pepper and the transplant. Even if we tried it wouldn't be pleasant for either of us."

"Pepper is superstitious and is making him cancel. So I heard."

"Does she not want me around?"

"She does not want anyone to know," Steve said. "Which indicates to me that there is something _to_ know that you might get off of Stark. . . but who am I to say?"

Wanda laughed. "Well. No one tell her what my range is. Or that Tony thinks very loudly."

"I don't want to comment. Particularly me, honestly. We got pregnant two weeks after ditching birth control and Sharon is still working out and wearing heels at 29 weeks. I know this is their last try, so I suppose they get to be superstitious."

"I'll tell Maria to stop scheduling it until they've made an announcement one way or another."

"So, how do we begin?"

"I've had the most luck with having the other person try to talk first. It seems to make the connection stronger and easier for you to find in the future. A couple of people I've needed to start with contact, then work up to distance. But I don't think we'll have that problem with you."

"Because I think loud?"

"No, I've noticed it's easier the closer I am to someone emotionally." She felt a little start of surprise from him and smiled. "Clint and I can talk almost as easily as Pietro and I. He was the first one of you all to form an emotional bond with me. But you're up there, and you were one of the first to trust me, so I think we'll be okay."

"So I just. . . think at you extra hard?"

"Yes. Like you were forming a sentence to say or write down." She had this explanation down pat by now. "Then project it. Nat said it was like yelling in her head."

He stared at her intently, and then she heard, _Testing. One, two three._

She laughed. _See? Simple._

He straightened. _Oh, wow._

There was a certain low-level connection that opened up when doing this. She could feel his surprise and wonder at feeling and hearing her. _I knew you'd be easy._

_I should have gone first. I've got no problems with experimentation._

_No, I'm glad you were at the end. It was nice to have a break, so to speak._ Something tugged at the edge of her awareness and she shifted her focus. _Sharon's here._

He stood up. "You're handy, you know that?" He went into the hall, probably to fuss over her. He had to know it drove Sharon crazy.

Wanda trailed after him, arriving in time to see him ambush Sharon in the foyer and take to two small shopping bags out of her hands as if they were over stuffed luggage. Sharon glanced over his shoulder and gave her a smile that was both exasperated and welcoming. 

Instinctively, she mentally reached out for the baby, the happy, uncomplicated presence that had been growing by leaps and bounds the last few weeks. And found him weak and frightened.

Frowning, she pushed past Steve and flattened a palm on Sharon's belly, sinking all of her awareness into her. "You need to go to the doctor. Right now."

"What?" Sharon asked. "Why?"

Steve didn't seem to require her to elaborate. Though, it wasn't really Steve. The voice was all Cap. "FRIDAY, call an ambulance. Is Doc in the Med building?"

"She is," the Irish voiced AI said. "I've informed her there is a medical emergency, she's already on the move. An ambulance is currently being summoned."

"Is the cart still out front?"

"It is."

"Good." He scooped up Sharon and turned for the door.

"Wanda? Sharon called. "What's going on?"

The Cap persona was hiding a remarkable amount of panic and fear, coming off Steve in waves. She tried to focus through it. "He's distressed. He's not getting what he needs. It feels like suffocating, or being trapped." The baby's panic was not helping at all.

He deposited Sharon in the car, barked, "Get in," at Wanda, and then they hurtled towards the Med building at a speed Wanda hadn't known those carts could get up to. She kept a bubble of power around it in an effort to keep it upright and stable.

Amanda was waiting for them in front of the building, one of the little Stark hospital-in-a-box things in her hand. She sprinted for the cart when she saw them. Sharon turned in her seat and Amanda crouched, placing a couple sensors on her stomach as Wanda tried to explain what she was sensing.

Amanda squinted at the ultrasound screen, listening to the ear piece. "His heartbeat is abnormal. I'm not seeing the cause, but the better machine's inside. Any pain or bleeding?"

Sharon shook her head. "I'm tired, but you said that was normal."

She looked at Wanda. "You said he feels like he's suffocating?"

Wanda nodded. "It's not quite right, but it's the best analogy I can do. He needs something and he's not getting it."

With a frown, the doctor studied Sharon's belly as if it would tell her something new. "All right. FRIDAY said the ambulance was on its way. We'll get you the hospital to L&D and get a better view. From what you describe and based on how far along we are, my gut says there's a problem with the placenta or cord."

"Is the ambulance going to be fast enough?" Steve asked.

She leaned into the cart. "FRIDAY, update on the ambulance?"

"It's passing the main gate."

"Then yeah, it'll be quicker then rallying anything else."

Sharon was now crying, and amount of fear coming off of her and Steve—oh, look, Amanda, too—was making Wanda nauseous. She would have given anything for Zev right then.

The ambulance screeched to a halt a moment later, and Amanda gave them her assessment of the situation. They efficiently loaded Sharon onto the gurney, and Wanda took a little shelter in the fact that they were not emotionally invested in this, and not particularly alarmed. 

"We can take one," the EMT said sternly.

"You should go," Steve said to Amanda. Wanda could tell it was the single hardest thing he'd ever done. Then the doors were closed at it was on its way. Steve turned and looked at her, and she puked on his feet.

She dimly heard him curse as she sank down to her knees. Focused on staying conscious she managed to stammer out, "I'm fine. Go."

He went to the cart instead and said something to FRIDAY. A moment later, her brother was there.

"What the hell?" he said, immediately scooping her up.

"Long story," she mumbled. Her head throbbed. "Take me home." Pietro glanced at Steve, who gave him a sharp nod. Then they were running, the wind blissfully cool against her face. 

He carried her to her room, and set her down on her bed. "What can I do?"

He was too concerned about her to be very calming, but at least it wasn't the overwhelming fear and panic of Steve. "Wet wash cloth. Lights off. White noise machine on. And warn Zev I'm sick."

"Do you want him to come here or stay away?"

She dithered a moment. "Come." He would be soothing even in his worry. "But he doesn't have to rush."

"Okay." Pietro kissed her forehead and got up. He hit the lights and put on the noise machine. Once he'd brought the wet cloth, she could lay in the dark and drift in her migraine. She must have dozed off, because the next thing she knew the bed had dipped, and Zev wrapped his arms around her.

Peace covered her like a warm, familiar blanket. She reached for him mentally, their bond snapping sharply into place. Instinctively, she hunted in his mind for something happy to chase away the last threads of fear and worry clinging to her.

The ocean lapped against the sand tinted pink with sunset. The air was warm and salty, dune grass swaying in the wind behind them. There was no roar of the ocean, no sound at all. Small children ran by, mouths open perhaps to laugh or yell. Zev was standing next to her.

"Have you added teleportation to your skills?"

She took a deep breath of the ocean, feeling tension unravel in her. "No. This is part of the telepathy. Making memories or thoughts seem real. This is your happiest memory. My powers went hunting for it when you touched me."

"The yang to calling a worst fear?" He looked around. "Not bad." He pointed to the gray shingled house behind them. "That is my parents' beach house." He looked over his shoulder, then back at her. "The last summer before my grandmother died."

"It's funny. I showed you what hearing is like and now I get to experience being deaf." She crouched down to touch the water, found it warmer than she'd expected. "How old were you?"

"Fourteen. I spent half the funeral hiding in the bathroom because I was embarrassed I couldn't stop crying."

She straightened and slid her arms around him, squeezing him. "I'm sorry, honey."

He kissed the top of her head and then they straightened. He stepped aside and pointed to a small, white haired woman in a beach chair. She was reading a thick book and lifting her head up occasionally to yell at the children running on the beach. She looked in their direction, and signed, "I'm not coming after you if you drown," at them. Well, at Zev, it was his memory.

Wanda chuckled at that. "Your grandmother and my mother would have gotten along." She leaned into his side, sighing softly. "We can go, if you want. I think I'm all right now."

"This is amazing. You know that, don't you?"

She looked around the silent beach and nodded. "It's certainly better than the alternative."

"Could we come back? If I wanted to?"

"Yes. Any time you wanted." This was easy, compared to some of the other things she did on a regular basis. It was the first trick she had learned, more or less.

Her vision blurred, and everything shifted, and then suddenly they were in her bedroom again. She sighed softly, rolling in his arms to face him. Her head still ached dully, but nothing some over the counter medication wouldn't help. She leaned in and kissed him softly. _Hello._

Zev brushed her damp hair off her face. _Feel any better?_

_Much, thank you. This was a bad day._

He pulled her close and rubbed her back. _Do you want to talk about it?_

She sighed softly. _When I was at Steve and Sharon's I felt something wrong with the baby. They called an ambulance and rushed off to the hospital. But they were so worried and afraid it overwhelmed me. Made me sick._

_When Pietro texted me you were sick and needed me, I was expecting more. . . bad cramps._

Laughing, she touched his face with light fingers. _When has anything about me been that simple?_

He grinned. _Exceptions prove rules._

She leaned in to kiss him gently. And, because she simply couldn't wait any longer, she leaned back and signed, "I love you."

The spark of emotion from him swelled, filling him and then her, until it was all there was. He formed the same sign, and touched his hand to hers. She wove her fingers with his and kissed him again, swimming in emotion. _I love you,_ he sent her as a distinct thought, even though he didn't need to.

_I love you. So much. I've never felt this way about anyone before._

_Neither have I. But that's okay, isn't it?_

_It is,_ she assured him, stroking his cheek lightly. _It's real._

There was a knock on the door, and she could feel Pietro outside. _Amanda called._

She lifted her head a little. _And?_

_They delivered the baby. Two pounds, nine ounces. Doing very well, breathing on his own which is apparently a big deal._

That was probably the best possible outcome, though she knew how much the idea of a premature baby frightened Steve. _Thank you, Pietro._ She looked at Zev. _The baby is all right, though had to come out early._

 _I heard._ He paused and frowned at her. _That's not suppose to happen._

Staring at him, she shook her head. _No, it's not. You heard Pietro?_

_The whole conversation._

_That's. . . odd. I wasn't trying to relay it to you._ She rested her head back on the pillow. _I suppose we are all tangled up in each other's heads._

_It's kind of neat, actually. Less to be repeated._

_It would be handy when we're out and about._ And might be an eventual goal for the team, though she suspected it might be something unique to them.

 _You are a wizard,_ he told her. _And we are magic._

He really did think she was magical. And God, did he love her. She kissed him again. _I think I might be up for a trip upstairs._ Someday, she hoped they could have spontaneous, uncomplicated sex in her own room.

He kissed her nose. _I think that sounds wonderful._ He rolled off the bed and held out a hand to her. She took it and let him tug her to her feet. They held hands as they walked out to the hall and upstairs.

 _I like this room,_ he told her. _Having a dedicated space._

Winding her arms around him, she kissed him. _I know. It just complicates things sometimes. Breaks down the spontaneity._ She tugged his shirt off and stopped. _Wait. You heard that thought?_

He stilled. _I. . . yes?_

Her mouth opened and closed a couple times. _I didn't send it to you. Not on purpose._

_I'm sorry,_ he told her sincerely. _I don't want to intrude on your private thoughts._

 _We'll figure it out. It could just be because I'm so burnt out mentally. Plus we're kind of more tangled then usual._ She slid her hands over his chest, kissing him tenderly. _I love you._

He lifted her shirt with the same gentle care. _I think I can. . . feel it. Is that weird?_

_I think you're experiencing things the way I do. I feel people's emotions all the times. Especially strong ones like love._

He sifted his fingers through her hair. _It feels good._

 _Love usually feels good._ She sank her hands into his hair and kissed him, then trailed her lips along his jaw and throat. He stroked her back, fingers running down the muscles on either side of her spine. He always touched her with such care. Like she was precious to him.

She supposed she was, in a way. Now that he'd admitted his feelings she could feel his love for her, like a bright beacon in his chest. The pillows next to them flittered and stirred. She smiled a little at that and reached for the fastening of his jeans with her powers.

 _You're feeling windy tonight,_ he commented, watching his jeans seemingly open themselves. He'd seen the damage she could do with her powers. It sort of amazed her that he trusted her to use them anywhere in this particular vicinity.

 _Emotions running high,_ she told him. _And the incident earlier stripped out a lot of my usual walls._ She caught his mouth in a hot kiss, pressing herself against him deliberately.

He pushed her pajama pants off her hips. _Lift._

She levitated easily off the floor so he could slip them off. He put his hands on her waist and repeated, _Lift,_ guiding her high enough he could suck one of her nipples into his mouth. She wrapped her legs around him instinctively, but supported herself. She threaded her fingers through his hair, moaning softly at the sensations he was causing. She was sort of floating on her power, and it was easy enough to let him move her up further still, until her legs were over his shoulders.

He pressed a kiss to each of her thighs, then her center. Wanda moaned again, head tipping back as his tongue found her clit and started to lick. She had nothing to hold onto, nothing to give her balance. She just floated there as he gripped her hips and tormented her with his mouth. She leaned back a bit for better access, until it got hard to concentrate. She focused her power down at the ground instead of at the pillows.

She leaned all the way back, power supporting her like a bed. The position caused lust to spike in Zev - he did enjoy when she showed off - and that surge tipped her over the edge into her orgasm. She shuddered into it, arching helplessly. She felt his hands under her shoulders, and slowly they lowered to the ground. She sprawled on the mats and looked up at him kneeling over her and he grinned. "Pillows didn't move."

He was so proud of her, she couldn't help but smile back. "I was focusing. Thought it would be fun to experiment."

"The more extreme the acrobatics, the less the destruction."

"That was my hypothesis. I just need to focus it on _something_. Doesn't have to be pillows."

He leaned over her, caging her with his arms. _I'm happy to do that any time._

Drawing him down for a kiss, she asked, _Want to try sex on the ceiling?_

What she got back wasn't so much coherent words but an intense rush of lust. She was going to take that as a yes. She kissed him, then floated him up above her. _Pants off._

He grinned, clearly delighted, and shoved his pants off. The motion made him tip a little and they almost knocked foreheads. This would take some practice. When he was finally as naked as her, she wound both arms and one leg around him and pushed, lifting herself off the ground. He deepened the kiss, lust roaring again, and they were on the ceiling in no time.

_Seriously. I love you._

_I'm guessing this wasn't on any list of preferred attributes of potential girlfriends._

_Fate is mysterious,_ he replied. Then he kissed her, hitched her leg a little higher, and pushed into her. The air rushed out of her and she felt them push firmer into the ceiling. Maybe the should have padded this, too. She braced her hands and knees on the old wood and arched into him, meeting his strokes so he went deeper, at an angle she didn't think she'd ever felt before. They melded into each other, a mess of desire and love and pleasure, more intense than it had ever been before. She couldn't even tell them apart.

She lost track of how long they were up there. The support wasn't steady, it rippled and ebbed, so they moved with their thrusts, as is on a water bed. When she felt her climax starting to build she tightened her arms on him. _Close. . . Hold on._

He shuddered, and then came back clear as a bell, _I trust you._

She felt it even as he said it, the rock solid trust he had in her. And that, as much anything else, tipped her over the edge. She gasped his name, out loud and in their heads, and her powers seemed to fill the room beneath them, pressing against her back. The orgasm rippled between them, and for a moment she didn't even have to concentrate on anything. Her powers just. . . worked, just held them, so she could get lost in their pleasure, and in their bond.

She soaked in it, reveled in it, as it slowly spiraled out, leaving them in the warm after glow. They sank to the floor, smoothly and gently. He lifted his head and reached to stroke her hair. _I love you so much._

The words warmed her straight through and she smiled, sighing, _I'm never going to get tired of hearing that._

_Then I will never stop saying it._

That sounded an awful lot like a promise. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. _Good._

_What do you say we go downstairs and have a shower?_

_That sounds like a wonderful idea._

He stood slowly, and helped her to her feet. "By the way. That was really hot."

"I could tell you liked it." She grinned brightly. "Maybe we can do it in my room sometime."

"You're not worried you'll smash your stuff?"

"Not if we do it this way. I don't want to try it tomorrow night, but with some practice. . . it doesn't seem as impossible."

He put his pants back on before saying, "Sex in a bed. How novel. Won't we be bored?"

She used her powers to bring his shirt to her and tugged it on. It would do for the trip back to her room. "Nah. It'd be exciting. Exotic."

Zev held out his hand. _We'll call it a goal._

Her fingers interlaced with his as they walked towards the door. _It's good to have goals._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The baby is and will be ok. We promise. We're both mothers, and couldn't write something where the baby wasn't ok. (Not that the NICU's not bumpy road, and it's probably something we'll write about at some point. But he's a tough little kid, have no doubt.


	14. Chapter 14

Wanda and Zev were sitting in the kitchen the next morning, munching on breakfast while he was working on research notes when her phone pinged. She was surprised to see it was a text from Sharon.

_We're open for visitors over here if you're interested._

Even more interesting, the text seemed to be solely to her, not a group one. "I think Sharon wants to talk to me," she signed to Zev, showing him the text.

"Have you had a cold lately?"

She shook her head. "No. Fit as a fiddle."

"Have you been around anyone who's been sick?"

That one she had to think about. "Not to my knowledge?"

"Then you should go. The baby will be in the NICU but she's still stuck in bed. She's probably dying for company."

She supposed now that the baby was out and relatively safe the worry would be down to normal levels. "I think I will, then. Are you going to stay or should I text you later?"

"I could stay. I could even come with if you like. If you're worried about getting overwhelmed again."

"No, it's all right. I've handled hospitals before." She leaned over to kiss him. _Thank you, though._

_Anytime, my love._

She smiled brilliantly at him. She had a feeling they were both going to be tossing that word around willy nilly for the next couple days. After finishing breakfast, she went upstairs to finish dressing, then headed out, stopping at the motor pool to borrow a car.

Thanks to the University, Ithaca had a nicer hospital than a town that size generally did, though the medical school's primary teaching hospital had been built an hour north in Syracuse, which was 25 times the size. She was not looking forward to next fall when Zev was up there full time. Though it was funny she was thinking in those kind of timescales. When she texted Sharon to ask for more location information, it had become obvious why she was calling for company. She'd had her c-section in the Ithaca hospital, but they'd taken Joseph to Syracuse to the better NICU.

When she got there, Wanda could hear Darcy's bright, loud thoughts from down the hall. She didn't read detail, but it sounded like everyone was in a reasonably good mood. Darcy's voice, of course, was audible outside the closed door. "I really think you could sell this as a sex toy."

Wanda knocked lightly, opening when Sharon called out over her laughter. Poking her head in, Wanda said, "I'ver either come at a bad time or the best time."

"I brought over the breast pump," Darcy said. "Pepper gave it to me." She pointed at the contraption sitting on the foot of Sharon's bed.

"And then she made me laugh," Sharon said. "Laughing hurts. You're a bad friend."

"It is not my fault Stark made those things to replicate mouths." 

The Stark breast pump had a sort of infamy among the women. Far more efficient than anything on the market, it very clearly resembled twin mouths. Mostly because an infant's mouth was the most efficient way to get milk from a breast. As far as Wanda knew all the mothers had used it, to varying levels of creeped out. Wanda tried not to look at it too closely as she approached the bed. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked Sharon. "Other than her cruelly making you laugh."

"Tired. Sore. Medicated." Her face fell. "I miss my baby. I haven't seen him since he was born."

Her grief was palpable. Wanda braced and blocked herself before taking her hand. "He'll be all right. Amanda said he's breathing on his own, yes?"

Darcy's phone rang, and she waved at them and ducked out to take it.

Sharon's emotions were blunted, but they weren't all bad anyway, so it was all right. "Yes. She and Steve went to Syracuse with him. She said she was going to come back this afternoon and have a fight with my OB about releasing me into her care. I'd be staying in the hospital up there anyway. Steve has sent a lot of pictures."

They spent a while cooing over the pictures on Sharon's phone, of Joseph in the NICU incubator, swathed in tubes and wires. Darcy had to head back to base after a while, but Wanda settled in the guest chair. "I could get a deck of cards? Pass the time."

She fiddled with her blanket. "There was a knot in his cord. It had probably been there all along, just loose. His cord was short, and the placenta up high, so when he turned head down, the knot pulled tight."

And cut off his food source. Hence the panic. Wanda hadn't known such a thing could happen, but she supposed it made sense. There was a lot of stuff involved in making a baby. "You did say he was very active."

"The doctor said it tightened as he moved. . ." she swallowed. "Very soon he would have had brain damage. He would have been dead probably by morning."

Wanda squeezed her hand lightly. "But he's all right? You and Steve's son, he'll be strong."

Sharon squeezed her hand back. "He's all right because of you."

She smiled at the wave of affection and gratitude that came off her. "It was my pleasure."

After a moment of silence, she said, "I'm sorry I once encouraged Steve to kill you."

Wanda blinked rapidly a moment, stunned. Then, to her and Sharon's surprise, she started to laugh. So hard she had to release Sharon’s hand and lean back, holding her stomach.

Sharon blinked. "Are you okay? I've had a lot of percoset, so. . ."

Waving a hand, she focused on catching her breath. "I'm fine. I'm fine. I just. . . we have very strange lives."

"That we absolutely do." She tugged Wanda's hand. "Seriously. Thank you. You saved my son's life. Though Amanda is getting the credit for it from the other doctors. But. . . I can't ever. . ." Her eyes welled up. "Just thank you."

Wanda stood and perched on the edge of the bed so that Sharon could hug her. "You're very welcome," Wanda said softly, rubbing the other woman's back. "We're family. I will do everything I can to help my family." Sharon nodded and they just held each other a few moments. "You know, Wanda makes a lovely middle name for boys as well as girls."

"Oh, don't make me laugh." She leaned back. "His middle name needs to be the last name of a president. It's. . . a thing. We hadn't decided yet. I'm sure Steve would approve of the idea of you choosing which president."

"I don't know that I have an opinion on American presidents, but I will attempt to cultivate one in the coming days."

"You have plenty of time, he'll be in the hospital for a while."

She nodded. "It will be all right. I have faith."

"Amanda told me once she still has no idea how, having read Steve's pre-serum medical reports, he survived to adulthood. So, good genes there, I suppose. He wasn't much bigger than Joseph when he was born, and the only medical support he had was his mother's body heat."

"It will be a story to tell," Wanda offered, watching the pain killer sink its teeth into Sharon. "You should rest, if you can. Recover so you can care for him."

She smiled, relaxing back into her pillows. "Steve said they let him hold him skin-to-skin. I'll get to when I go up there, too. Though I probably won't cause quite the same traffic jam in the hallway when I do."

Wanda laughed again. "I will check Youtube for it when I get home."

She closed her eyes. "I think my IV dosed me again."

"It's all right. I'll come visit again later, if you want."

"I would love that, thank you."

"I will see you soon, then." She waited another moment, as Sharon's eyes frigted shut. Then she stood and slipped silently out of the room.

She was surprised to see Bucky coming down the hall towards her. He smiled. "Hey."

"Hello," she said. "Sharon just fell asleep."

"Steve sent me to fuss by proxy."

"That was very nice of you. Do you have much fussing experience? Amanda doesn't strike me as the type to put up with it."

"I once made a career out of fussing over Steve."

Wanda tilted her head. "How did that work out for you?"

"I fell off a train." He ducked his head. "But I'm glad I ran into you."

Her brows lifted. "You were? Did you need something?"

"Steve told me what you did for them. For the baby."

Her cheeks felt a little warm. She was glad the baby was relatively all right. But she did wish everyone would stop making a fuss. "I'm glad I could help."

"You and me, Maximoff? We're square."

To her surprise, the words made tears prick in her eyes the way Sharon's teary gratitude had not. Perhaps because, now that she was paying attention, she could feel his affection for her - always a little guarded - now glowed as strong and true as Steve's. She wanted to hug him, but wasn't sure how he'd react. So she stuck a hand out for a shake. "Thank you, Sergeant Barnes." He took her hand, gave it a little tug, and hugged her.

She had noticed the way Amanda always seemed to melt when she hugged her husband, despite generally avoiding physical contact. Now she understood why. He was very nice to hug, Sturdy and strong. Very warm and smelling delightful. She gave him a tight squeeze.

He gave a sharp nod when he let her go, indicating the conclusion of their discussion on the topic. He was precise like that. Clint did that, too. She was sure that was part of why they got along.

"I was just heading home," she told him. "Enjoy your proxy fussing."

*

The next couple of months seemed to fly by. Zev didn't see Wanda as much as he would have liked. With Captain Rogers and his wife staying in the hospital with their son, and Doc spending a great deal of time there as well, the rest of the Avengers were pitching in to make up for the loss. Wanda ended up on missions she might not have gone on otherwise, serving as a medic or communications hub. There was nothing she could do to help with Sharon's duties, but Natasha could, which meant Wanda went on a couple missions with Clint, who was very picky about his partners.

Between that and school, getting together took arrangements. Still, he made a point to meet her on the Wife Line when she came back.

Winter had a death grip on upstate New York when the Rogers' baby finally came back from the hospital. Wanda went over that afternoon at the behest of Amanda, hoping she could gauge Steve and Sharon's moods and soothe their fears. She returned to the house, beaming at her success.

_He's very cute,_ she told Zev, gathering supplies to make hot chocolate. _I think he'll look like Sharon more than Steve._

_So. . .blonde and good looking?_

She tilted her head. _I suppose there really is only one way to go with them._ She tossed him a grin. _Just like ours would be dark and exotic looking._

_I was going to go with "swarthy", but exotic sounds better._

_You want kids, yes?_

He turned to look at her. _Yes. I assumed you could read that. I liked growing up in a big family._ Which reminded him. "Speaking of my family. . ."

Her brows went up and she paused in her cooking to sign, "That sounds vaguely ominous."

"My mother wants to know if you want to bring your brother home for Hanukkah with us." There had been great deal of negotiation about holidays, as his family came to grips with not seeing him for all of them. Wanda had told him Thanksgiving was a big deal for the Avengers and so they'd be spent it here. And suddenly his parents—who for his whole life had insisted that Hanukkah was an overblown holiday trying to ape Christmas—were throwing a big thing that he absolutely had to make it down to the city for. "I told her he was going to California for Christmas and that was probably enough 'in-law' for one holiday season. But it's my mother."

"I will ask him, but I suspect he and Ora would rather have some house-to-themselves time." She grinned. "Oh, do you want me to ask Tony if I can use a room in his hotel? Then we can stay late and not drive back."

He raised his eyebrows. "Feeling brave?"

"Well, he probably won't make me pay for damages. And we've got to try it out sometime."

"I'm willing."

The grin widened a little and she went back to her ingredient gather. They were quiet a moment before she asked, _So what are your thoughts on children out of wedlock?_

That certainly got his attention. He stared at her so long she looked up. _Are you pregnant?_

_No. But since they let me hold Joseph I've been hearing a very loud, metaphorical clock ticking._

He leaned against the counter. _And we can't get married?_

_Well, we can. But you haven't asked and you know, baby._ She tossed him a little self-depreciating smile. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about her digging out her implant in the shower.

_I'm taking this conversation way too seriously, aren't I?_

_I was not, actually, going to drag you upstairs and mate with you. Not until my hot chocolate is done, anyway._ She started mixing in cocoa powder and various spices into the milk. _And I'm sure Steve and Sharon will let me snuggle Joseph as he gets bigger. I just. . . I'm surrounded by kids and babies and I've never quite felt the way I did when I held him. Like I was suddenly missing something vital in my life._

_That sounds like the clock, all right._ He sighed. _I'm finished with my dissertation in the spring. Then I have the back half of med school, which is the hard part. The part where you're lucky if you get four hours of sleep on a hospital cot most nights._

_So you're saying that would be a bad time for an infant?_

_If you didn't want to feel like a single mom? Yeah._

She carefully poured her concoction into two mugs and added marshmallows before bringing them over to the table. _The idea of waiting years depresses me._ He could feel little pangs of sadness as she got closer. _I suppose this is one of those conversations you have to keep coming back to. Until an answer presents itself._

He reached up to stroke her hair. _I'm sorry,_ he told her. _I suppose you don't have to wait around for me if you don't want to._

Lifting a hand, she caught his, running her thumb along the back of his. _You expect me to go pick up some virile Cornell boy? Or just order some sperm?_

It sounded ridiculous when put like that. _I don't know. We all have our moments of doubt._

_I love you. Don't plan on loving anyone else. And I love you more for having this conversation with me. So we'll wait and see what happens._

He tugged on her hand and pulled her over until he could get her in his lap. _I love you. I think we'll make beautiful babies._ He tipped her chin up to look at him. _Will, not would._

She grinned, beamed, really, and leaned in to kiss him. _I know we will._

_Have you thought about the things on the road before babies?_

_Like morning sickness?_ she asked, obviously teasing.

_I was thinking more about the fact that the last time I slept at my apartment there were leaves on the trees._

He could feel her laugh and she leaned against his chest. _It has gotten kind of superfluous, hasn't it?_

_Well, your bed is nicer. And we have a sex room._

_I am certainly in favor of you moving in. We should probably discuss it with Pietro, though. I want to make sure you're a real member of the house hold, not some sort of permeant guest._

_I leave that to you. I just wanted to put the idea out there._

_Well. I will have the conversation with him and let you know._

_Housing is part of my program, so there's no rush. We could be in this limbo as long as we want, really._ He shrugged. _I just like the idea of sharing a home with you._

The wave of utter delight he got from that was intoxicating. _I would LOVE that._

He grinned back. It was impossible not to. _Drink your hot chocolate before I haul you upstairs._

_Sir, yes sir,_ she said, scooping up her mug.

They spoke to Pietro the next day and he seemed almost relieved at the idea. "Another man in the house can only help me." Wanda spent a few days rearranging things in her room and installing a new dresser to make room for his things. And two weekends later, on an ugly Saturday full of sleet, he stood on her front porch and watched his moving boxes float out of his rented u-haul, into the house, and up the stairs.

It reminded him of the Mickey Mouse cartoon with the brooms, only far more organized.

"I find this kind of hot," he signed to her.

_No one thinks of the practical applications of a superhero girlfriend._ He wasn't sure if she had to do the weird hand motions to make the powers work, but it seemed to help her focus so he didn't begrudge.

Anyway, he liked watching her hands move. _It helps me not feel guilty for not helping._

_You'd catch your death in the weather. And then who would service me?_

_You know the weather has absolutely nothing to do with colds._

She frowned. _If you insist on correcting my old wive's tales then this is never going to work._ Her head tilted, though she didn't look away from the boxes. Then she called out, "Doc! Tell Zev being cold makes you sick," and repeated it in his head.

He peered around the porch post to see Doc and the other ladies of Avengerville making their way across the lawn.

"You're more likely to get sick inside where it's warm and crowded with germy people," Doc responded, signing at the same time. Wanda scowled at his triumphant look. 

He went to the porch rail where Doc could see him. "What are you doing out in this weather?"

"We're the welcome wagon." The string of boxes had stopped so the woman could come up onto the porch.

Violet stepped forward and held out a box. Nat stepped next to her to translate. Doc's ASL was mostly medical and work related. Nat and Clint seemed to share a brain and somewhere between Wanda's birthday and now she'd picked up conversational signs. "We are officially welcoming you to the Avenger Wives Club, now to be known as the Partners club while you're in attendance. You are welcome to all waiting and worrying events. Girl's nights are still ours."

He glanced at Wanda, who was beaming. Taking the box he opened it to find a set of keys, a membership card to The Official Avenger's Partners Club.

And a pair of expensive black silk boxers.

Zev started laughing. And his hands were full. _Wanda, ask them what the keys are for._

Several of them answered and he could tell there was laughing. _Darcy wants me to say super secret club house, but it's really just all the public buildings and other houses. We have analog back ups in case of crazy AI. Boring, I know._

He set the box down. "Thank you all. Really."

Violet came forward and gave him a hug. "Welcome home," Nat signed for her. 

He returned the hug, and looked up and met Wanda's teary eyes. _Your friends are good people._

_They are my family,_ she told him, stepping in to hug him when Violet was done. _And so are you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Wanda and Zev's story.
> 
> We'll start posting Pietro's story sometime next week (hopefully) after it gets a title and a couple chapters edited.
> 
> Thanks, as always, for reading.


End file.
